


These Precious Things

by Xingshou



Category: Hazbin Hotel (Web Series)
Genre: Angels, Backstory, Established Relationship, Extermination | Purge (Hazbin Hotel), F/F, Flashbacks, Fluff and Angst, Hopeful Charlie, POV Alternating, Protective Vaggie, Slow burn in the flashbacks, Some angst, chaggie, some biblical stuff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-18
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-16 08:21:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 24,678
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28828080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xingshou/pseuds/Xingshou
Summary: Most sinners can remember their previous lives and how they died, but Vaggie's never been able to. When pieces of her past are revealed, the hotel is threatened - not to mention her relationship with Charlie.
Relationships: Charlie Magne/Vaggie
Comments: 64
Kudos: 106





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I have actual work to do but this was more fun than reading terrible scripts all day so here ya go! Some nice Chaggie stuff for ya.

_Chaos and heaving bodies clashing together. Warm blood splattering onto her face, the taste of iron dripping down her cheek and onto her tongue. Buried under an ever growing pile of bodies, desperately trying to scrabble out, trying to scream for help but her voice getting muffled in the sounds of war, her cries going unheard or unheeded. The bodies being pulled apart, blinding light, white hot pain in one eye –_

Vaggie’s eyes snapped open as her brain released her from the nightmare. She lay still for a moment, listening to the soft sounds of Charlie breathing next to her. Vaggie waited to see if sleep would claim her again, but she suddenly felt wide awake. With an annoyed sigh, she rolled over to check the time on the digital clock. Four a.m. Just great. 

Carefully pushing the covers back so as to not wake Charlie, Vaggie slid out of bed and padded over to the French doors that led to their balcony, closing her eye for a moment as the early morning air prickled at her skin. The nightmare was already draining away like water – she tried to cling to it for a moment, lifting a hand to her bad eye, but it was pretty much gone, dismissed from her consciousness. 

Although she couldn’t quite ever remember them, the nightmares were becoming more frequent ever since Charlie had opened up the Happy Hotel. She could recall flashes and sparks here or there, but never anything solid, which particularly annoyed her because it meant she couldn’t really verbalize them to Charlie. The fact was, she couldn’t remember a lot of things, let alone her dreams and nightmares. 

There were some things that she just knew instinctively about herself – she had been human, she was from El Salvador – but those were the only things she was really sure of. She could never remember how exactly she’d died, or what she’d done to end up in Hell. She wasn’t even sure when she’d died, although that instinctive part of her told her that she hadn’t been damned for quite as long as some of the other sinners in the hotel. 

Sometimes, if she concentrated, she could get flashes of memory, but they never made sense contextually with what she knew about herself. Bright white lights, huge gates, feelings of fear and confusion. Things didn’t tend to be bright or white in Hell, and the only gates she knew of were around Lucifer’s Palace. Eventually she’d tried to stop making sense of it all and just move on, but it was becoming harder when the damn nightmares kept coming back. 

Vaggie turned back to watch her sleeping girlfriend, wondering if she should bother saying anything about it when Charlie woke up. She was always so supportive, but sometimes she was a little too supportive, wanting to analyze every scrap of anything Vaggie remembered about her nightmares to try and put together some kind of action plan to either make them stop or expand their knowledge of Vaggie’s past. The moth demon smiled fondly, shaking her head to herself. It was one of the things she loved about Charlie, her apparently never ending energy for helping others. It certainly made the princess stand out in Hell, that was for sure. 

Speaking of things she loved about Charlie…. 

Vaggie’s hand hovered over her own bedside drawer where a ruby and diamond engagement ring sat nestled in its box. She’d actually gotten it slightly before the official opening of the hotel, but they’d all been so busy running around getting it up and running that she hadn’t felt right asking. Things were starting to settle down now, though, as much as they could, anyway. Maybe this month would be the month. 

With another small sigh, Vaggie decided to keep the dream to herself for today. It wasn’t like it had given her any interesting details, and at the end of the day it was just a stupid dream. She decided to go downstairs and start brewing some coffee – there was no way she was going to be able to get back to sleep before Charlie rose at six a.m., and she wanted to have a decent hit of caffeine before her girlfriend started babbling about whatever plans she had that day for the hotel. Maybe if she was lucky, she’d be able to drag Charlie away from work long enough to make definitive plans for a date night. She was getting antsy having the ring in her drawer, and she wanted to pop the question sooner rather than later. 

She had just made it to the door when Charlie’s phone lit up on the nightstand, the phone set to silent to not wake them during the night, but still lighting up as a text came through. Probably Angel Dust telling Charlie he’d be late or something. Vaggie’s hand slid off the doorknob as she remembered she’d seen (or rather, heard) Angel come in around midnight, and as far as she was aware, he hadn’t left again. So who was texting Charlie this early in the morning? Curiously, Vaggie stepped around the bed and looked down at the phone, her stomach turning to ice as she read the name at the top of it. 

_Texts From Mom (2)._

Vaggie hesitated, then left the phone on the nightstand and made her way back out of the room. Shit – they hadn’t heard from Lilith in months, certainly not since before the hotel had actually become a thing. They hadn’t really been sure where she was, but it wasn’t that strange for Lilith and Lucifer to disappear for a few months at a time on ‘business’ reasons and not say anything. Apparently, the Queen of Hell had finally gotten all of her daughter’s messages. If Vaggie needed coffee before, she really needed it now. 

Flipping the kitchen lights on, Vaggie leaned against the counter and stared at the coffee machine as the brown liquid began to drip down into coffee pot, zoning out as each little drop fell into the growing puddle of coffee. 

\--- 

_Vagatha stood at attention in the grand hallway of Lucifer’s Palace, staring vaguely out of one of the massive windows as blood rain dripped down it. Trust the rulers of Hell to throw a massive party during the yearly Extermination. Well, to each their own, she supposed. At the very least she’d ensured her own safety for the year by being hired as part of a security detail for the Magnes for the evening. True, it was possible angels might attack the palace, but it was unlikely when there were so many other easily targeted sinners out there for them to pick from. It looked to be a straightforward and easy job._

_Unfortunately she’d been stationed in the most boring part of the palace, the hallway, just outside the ballroom. She could hear laughter and the clinking of glasses coming from inside, and just for a moment wished she could leave her post and stick her head inside just for something else to look at. She wasn’t dumb enough to actually do it, though – pissing off Lucifer wasn’t on her list of things to do today._

_She straightened up when the door next to a suit of armor opened – from what she remembered from when she’d reviewed the palace’s schematics in preparation for this job, that door led to a basement area. A slim blonde girl wearing a blood-red floor length ballgown stormed out of it, slamming the door behind her as she gathered her skirts up to be able to stomp down the hallway more effectively._

_Not just any girl, Vagatha realized as the blonde drew closer – the Princess. Charlotte._

_“Stupid… stuck up piece of… daddy’s boy trash…” Charlotte was muttering to herself. One of her feet stepped too high, the red high heel tangling in the under-mesh of the dress and sending the princess hurtling face first to the floor._

_Vagatha darted out from her position, catching Charlotte in her arms right before she totally ate it._

_“Whew, that was close,” Charlotte grinned up at her from where she was still prone in the moths’ arms, “Thank you – I don’t usually wear skirts this, um, floofy. Hard to walk in, you know?” She seemed to realize Vagatha was still holding her, “Wow, you’re really strong!”_

_“Or you’re not very heavy,” Vagatha countered, setting Charlotte back on her feet, watching as the princess smoothed her dress out. “Are you alright, Your Highness?”_

_“Oh – you can just call me Charlie, it’s fine,” Charlotte waved a hand, and Vagatha raised her eyebrow. Yeah, right. Like that would ever happen. Unlikely she’d ever even see the girl again after tonight._

_“Do you need an escort somewhere, Princess?”_

_“No…” Charlotte looked like she wanted to say something else, then shook her head. “No. Thank you.” She turned to the window Vagatha had been looking out of earlier, stepping up to it as her shoulders slumped. “Just one more hour… then it’ll be over.”_

_Vagatha didn’t say anything. What was one supposed to say to the Princess of Hell? And what did she have to mope about, anyway – her parents were throwing a literal party during the cleanse of sinners!_

_Charlotte rested her head against the glass for a moment, then squared her shoulders as she turned back to Vagatha, forcing a smile. “Are you enjoying the festivities?”_

_Vagatha blinked at her. “…I’m a hired guard, Princess.”_

_“Oh,” The red spots on Charlotte’s cheeks seemed to glow a little redder, “…Are you enjoying being a hired guard?”_

_Another stare from Vagatha. Was this Princess seriously for real? What the hell was she talking about?_

_“I… guess it’s nice to have safety ensured for the night,” Vagatha finally said._

_“Right.”_

_The two looked at each other awkwardly, Vagatha wishing Charlotte would just go away and let her do her job. When she’d wished for something to take away the boredom, a socially awkward Princess trying to make conversation with her wasn’t what she’d had in mind._

_“Well…” Charlotte said finally, after what felt like an eternity, “Thank you for your service tonight, Miss, um…?”_

_“It’s Vagatha,” Vagatha answered, steeling herself for the laugh that was bound to follow it. People always seemed to find her name hilarious._

_Charlotte didn’t laugh – instead, she almost looked thoughtful. “Vagatha. Okay – well – thank you, Vagatha. I guess I better go…” she snapped her fingers, a couple sparks flying from them, “It’s my big debut, tonight, I guess. Letting the sinners know it’s safe once the angels are gone.”_

_“Yes, Your Highness.”_

_“Like I said,” Charlotte said with a small smile as she pulled open the door to the ballroom, “It’s Charlie.”_

\---- 

“Lost in dreamland, are we?” 

Vaggie shrieked, the mug of coffee falling from her hands and shattering on the linoleum, sending coffee splattering everywhere. She spun to snarl at Alastor, “You fucking creep! You couldn’t have made some noise and given me a goddamn warning?” 

A laugh track surrounded them as Alastor placed his hands behind his back, “I do apologize.” 

“You’re not sorry at all,” Vaggie muttered, leaping back as Niffty appeared from literally nowhere with a dustpan to clean up the mug shards. Vaggie reached for another mug, twisting awkwardly so she wouldn’t have her back totally turned to Alastor. He’d been with them at the hotel for a few months now and hadn’t tried anything particularly sinister, but she still didn’t trust the Radio Demon. 

“You’re up very early,” Alastor pointed out, “Or is it very late? It’s hard to remember when one doesn’t sleep.” 

“Whichever,” Vaggie said. “It doesn’t matter, I’m not getting back to sleep today. Hence the coffee.” 

“Hm, I see,” Alastor said, raising an eyebrow at her, twisting a hand so his shadow rose up with him, “I’m off to take care of some… tasks… before we have our morning meeting with that darling belle of yours. Do enjoy the rest of your morning.” 

“So you literally just came in here to annoy me?!” Vaggie shouted after him as Alastor melted into his shadow and disappeared. “Jerk.” 

Niffty finished cleaning up the spilled coffee, dumping the shards of the mug into the trash. “Do you want some breakfast, Miss Vaggie? I can make some.” 

“I – “ Vaggie’s stomach rumbled, “Yeah, I guess so. Thanks, Niffty.” 

For some reason, Vaggie didn’t have as much of a problem with Niffty as she did with Alastor, even though the little cyclops technically worked for him. She supposed it was because Niffty was always out to please, where it seemed like Alastor was always out to piss her off in one way or another. 

The rest of the morning dragged, Vaggie deciding to pass the time by playing a crossword puzzle on her phone while she waited for the rest of the hotel to wake up. Finally, at six a.m. on the dot, she heard Charlie before she saw her. 

“Vaaaaa—aaaa---ggiiieeeeee!” 

It sounded like Charlie was literally leaping down the stairs, Vaggie’s suspicions confirmed when Charlie skidded into the kitchen doorway, out of breath, and brandishing her phone. Vaggie couldn’t help but smile. 

“Morning, hun.” 

“Vaggie, guess what!” Charlie pranced up to her, leaning down to give Vaggie her good morning kiss before shoving her phone directly in the moth’s face, “Mom’s coming!” 

“She what?” Vaggie took the phone to squint at it, holding it away so she could see it better with her good eye. 

“Yeah! Mom and Dad! To see the hotel,” Charlie confirmed, nodding enthusiastically, “And guess who else is coming? My uncle Gabriel!” 

Charlie’s phone clattered to the table as Vaggie dropped it. “…As in… as in… the Archangel Gabriel?” 

“Don’t you see?” Charlie chirped happily, “Mom and Dad must’ve mentioned it to them and he must like the idea! He’ll tell us for sure if it’s possible to redeem a sinner or not! But I think he wouldn’t bother coming if it wasn’t. This is great! Oh wow, we have so much to do – “ 

“Hun,” Vaggie tried, wincing as Charlie enthusiastically carried on. 

“—And we’ll have to make sure everything is super clean, Niffty can help with that –“ 

“Hun –“ 

“-And we can tell them how much progress Angel has made, he’ll probably be really impressed with that –“ 

“Charlie!” Vaggie said, getting up and taking her girlfriend’s shoulders, “I’m glad you’re excited, but… don’t you think this is a little weird?” 

“Weird?” Charlie blinked at her. 

“I mean… doesn’t your dad hate his brothers?” Vaggie bit her lip, “And… I don’t know. Something just doesn’t seem right… and I don’t want you to get hurt.” 

“Aw, I won’t,” Charlie gave Vaggie a quick hug, “Ooh! Ooh! What if we arranged like, a whole talent show, and – ooh! A – “ 

“Don’t say musical number,” Vaggie groaned and Charlie giggled. 

“You know me too well.” 

“One thing at a time, hun,” Vaggie said. “Let’s deal with the plans for the hotel for today, and then we can talk about what to do when your parents and uncle come. Okay?” 

“Sounds perfect!” Charlie beamed, bouncing out of the kitchen to head to her office, “This is gonna be amazing! Oooh, Alastor, where are you? We have news!” 

Vaggie watched her go with a sigh. “I sure hope so.” 

\--- 

Being manager of a hotel was a lot of work, even when one had the Radio Demon helping as some sort of co-manager. Vaggie had been successful in convincing Charlie to hold off on spilling the news about her parents’ visit until they were able to tell the residents of the hotel about it all at once. 

Most of the morning had been taken up with a meeting with Charlie and Alastor to come up with ideas for the hotel – well, she and Charlie did, Alastor grinned at them and filled the room with radio static – and afternoon found her running all over the place with general upkeep and management, ordering things to restock Husk’s bar, making sure all the appliances were in working order, burning all the hate mail that piled up in front of the door. 

Finally, in early evening, Vaggie found a few minutes to herself to relax in the library. Charlie had gone out to file some needed paperwork for the hotel, which meant she’d be gone for a while. What was it they said about Hell and bureaucracy? 

She’d chosen the library because hardly anyone ever used it. Every once in a while she’d see Alastor in there, but the Radio Demon had gone off to handle one of his broadcasts, so she had the dusty room all to herself. 

She sat slumped in one of the wingback armchairs, absolutely exhausted. If she was smart she would’ve just taken a nap while Charlie was away, but she wanted to ensure she was around if any of the hotel residents needed her. So here she sat, holding the engagement ring box in one hand, flipping the lid opened and closed. She still hadn’t thought of a good spot to take Charlie on a date night, let alone make plans for one. Maybe she could just propose here?

“What’s that?” 

Vaggie startled, locking eyes with Angel Dust, who stood in the doorway with Fat Nuggets under one of his lower arms. 

“What are you doing in here?” Vaggie demanded, but Angel wasn’t listening. His eyes lit up. 

“Is that a _ring_?’ 

Vaggie bit her lip, but there was no denying it now. She flipped the box back open, and Angel practically sprinted across the room to get a good look. 

“Holy shit, that’s an expensive ass ring,” Angel said, staring down at it. “I’m guessin’ it’s for Cha-Cha?” 

“No, it’s for you,” Vaggie said sarcastically, “Of course it’s for Charlie!” She sank back into the chair, closing the box again, watching as Angel set Nuggets down. “…I just… haven’t found a good time yet. Do you think it’s weird to ask her here?” 

“Here?!” Angel straightened up, staring at her, “In this dump? No fuckin’ way Vags, ya gotta do it right! Take her out, champagne, everythin’.” 

“That’s what I figured,” Vaggie said. “But we just can’t seem to find the time…” Something occurred to her, and she narrowed her eyes at Angel, “And for fuck’s sake, please keep this to yourself!” 

Angel scoffed, “Oh, honey, I been keepin’ worse secrets than that since before ya died. … Hey, when did ya die? I don’t think ya ever said.” 

Vaggie rested her chin on her fist. “I dunno.” 

“Whaddya mean ya don’t know?” 

“I mean I don’t know!” Vaggie said, sitting up and glaring at Angel, “Drop it, okay?” 

“Okay, okay, sheesh. So ya need help wit’ this proposal thing? I’m pretty good at dreamin’ up imaginative dates.” 

Vaggie raised her eyebrow at him, “You?” 

Angel held up his hands, “I can be classy, really!” 

“Well… maybe…” Vaggie thought about it. She _had_ been drawing a blank, and Angel _did_ seem to know the best spots in Hell. 

“Sounds like ya moll’s back,” Angel said as they heard the sound of the door opening and shutting and Charlie singing happily to herself. “Ya lemme know if ya want that help. We’ll work somethin’ out.” 

“I’ll… think about it,” Vaggie said, exiting the library and shaking her head as she went to greet Charlie. When had her afterlife become so complicated?


	2. Chapter 2

Charlie hummed a little tune to herself as she strolled back to the hotel from could be considered Pentagram City’s City Hall, trying to refrain from actually skipping. Finally! Her parents were finally giving her the time of day after months of silence. And coming to see the hotel, too! The news couldn’t be better – she just hoped that they appreciated all the work she’d been putting in. She was aware of the limousine following closely along behind her in case she needed it, but she ignored it – another idea of her father’s, that she should be constantly followed around by her little goat helpers when out and about. Lucifer wasn’t a big ‘walk amongst the people’ type, but Charlie was. She liked to see their faces – it reminded her what she was fighting for in the first place. 

She entered the hotel still singing to herself slightly under her breath, placing the packet of permits she’d received at City Hall carefully down on one of the entrance hall tables. Her smile widened as Vaggie stepped into the entrance hall from the library side of the hotel. 

“Hi,” Charlie beamed, stepping forward to kiss Vaggie on the cheek. If she wasn’t mistaken, Vaggie looked a little – worried? Contemplative? – Then again, she kind of always looked like that lately. 

“How’d it go at City Hall?” Vaggie asked, and Charlie triumphantly plucked up the packet to show her. 

“Got all the permits! Where’s Ala –aaah, oh, there you are!” The shadows around them had elongated mid-sentence, and Alastor appeared before them, grinning as usual. 

“Did I hear my name?” 

“Yep!” Charlie held up her envelope of permits, “Could you file these please?” 

Alastor took the envelope, popping it open and running his claws through the sheaf of papers. “Your dedication to suffer through the bureaucracy of Hell in order to keep this ridiculous hotel running is quite admirable, I must admit,” he said, closing the envelope again. 

“Wait, one more thing,” Charlie said as Alastor turned to go. He turned back, raising a curious eyebrow. “You like cooking, right? I was wondering if you might be willing to put together a nice meal for when mom and dad and my uncle come to visit tomorrow! I’m sure they’d be really impressed!” 

“Ha!” Alastor said, shaking his head, “No, I shan’t be around tomorrow evening, I’m not sorry to say.” 

“What?” Charlie’s face fell, “Why not? I thought you could help show my parents around!” 

“Although I could suffer through an evening with the King and Queen, the presence of your uncle makes it a firm ‘no’,” Alastor said. “I am far more acquainted with sinners than with saints, my dear. I haven’t gotten to where I am today by prostrating myself in front of angels, let alone an Archangel. I shall be making myself scarce, instead. Good evening to you both.”

Charlie sighed as he strolled off, her shoulders drooping. Vaggie placed a gentle hand on her back. “I know you’re disappointed, but honestly, maybe having Alastor not be here is a good thing. Who knows what kind of shit he’d get up to for ‘entertainment’ purposes?” 

“Yeah…” Charlie took a deep breath, a smile back on her face as she pushed through the disappointment, “Well, at least they can meet everyone else!” 

\--- 

“I can’t believe they all said no!” Charlie rested her face in her hands as she sat at the vanity in the bedroom she and Vaggie shared, staring through half-lidded eyes at her own reflection. The announcement of the royal visit had gone over like a lead balloon when Charlie announced it at their communal dinnertime. 

Husk had just stared at her and mumbled some excuse about having to be out of the hotel; Angel had laughed himself silly for a good ten minutes once he realized Charlie was serious. Even Niffty, sweet, dependable, amenable Niffty had decided to stick with Alastor. So that just left Charlie and Vaggie. 

“Now all mom and dad are gonna see is an empty hotel and a failure of a daughter,” Charlie pouted, reaching up to release her blonde hair from its tie. 

“Give them a break, hun,” Vaggie said, crossing the room to place a hand on Charlie’s shoulder, the other carding through the blonde hair, breaking up knots. “They hide from angels literally trying to exterminate them every year. It makes sense they’d be a little nervous about having one of the biggest angels of all come through the door.” 

“I know,” Charlie huffed, twisting in her seat so she could look at her girlfriend, “But I just wanted my parents to see how well they’re all doing… or… at least… trying to do.” She closed her eyes, leaning back as Vaggie’s fingers scratched at her scalp. It felt nice, and she felt herself starting to drift. 

“Uh oh,” Vaggie teased, “Is Her Highness starting to fall asleep?” 

Charlie batted Vaggie’s hand away, a smile forming on her face, “It sounds so weird when you call me that.” 

Vaggie pretended to gasp, her hands going to her mouth, “Uh oh! The Princess is getting sleepy! I think it might be her bed time…” 

Charlie pushed herself back against the vanity in anticipation of what was coming, starting to giggle, “Don’t you dare – “ 

Vaggie launched herself forward, lifting Charlie into her arms effortlessly bridal style, grinning as Charlie laughed and kicked her legs. “Vaggie! Put me down! Vagg –aah!” Charlie’s giggles turned into full blown laughter as Vaggie obliged and tossed her onto the bed. 

“You said put you down,” Vaggie grinned, crawling onto the bed to join her, sitting up and crossing her legs as she reached to unclip the bow from her hair. Charlie moved forward to do it for her, placing it on their nightstand. 

Vaggie reached out to cup her face with a soft smile, it dimming a little as she spoke, “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little nervous about tomorrow. But… you’re not a failure, Charlie. I’d say you’re doing pretty well so far… it’s only been a couple of months, anyway.” 

“You always make me feel better,” Charlie sighed. “That’s why I love you. And – I know this whole hotel idea has been a little hard on you… I’m sorry, I know I’ve been spending a lot of time working… “ 

“I knew what I was signing up for,” Vaggie said. “I wouldn’t have agreed otherwise. But speaking of spending time together… I thought maybe, now that things are settling down at the hotel a little bit –“ 

“Oh!” Charlie sat up, putting her hands to her face again, “Shit, did I remember to clean up my office? Mom hates clutter – I better go check, I’ll be right back!” 

Later, as Charlie finally filed away the final piece of loose paper that had been sitting around her office, she thought back to her conversation with Vaggie, suddenly becoming aware of the slight slump to her girlfriend’s shoulders as she’d hurried out of the room. 

She felt badly – of course she did. She hadn’t meant to leave Vaggie hanging, but sometimes her brain started going and wouldn’t stop if she didn’t take care of whatever the problem was immediately, no matter what she’d been doing before. 

“I’ll make it up to her…” Charlie said to herself as she closed the door to her office and frowned at how long the shadows were getting in the hallway. It was far later than she’d like it to be – Vaggie had probably given up and gone to sleep by now. She’d find a way to make it up to her. They just needed to get through this visit, and then everything could go back to normal. 

\--- 

_Charlie crinkled the empty coffee cup in her hand, her chin propped up on the other, bored out of her mind. She glanced up at Seviathan sitting across from her, mid-sentence as he babbled about something. What was he talking about? She’d zoned out about twenty minutes ago and couldn’t be bothered to zone back in. Whatever it was, it was probably self-serving and boring, anyway._

_She’d suggested going to the coffee shop in hopes that her boredom during their “date day” would be alleviated, but obviously that plan hadn’t worked. Her eyes wandered in search of some sort of stimulation, lighting up as she recognized someone familiar in the coffee line. That guard from the Extermination night was almost at the front, staring up at the menu._

_Charlie looked down at her empty coffee cup again, then over at Sev, who was somehow still talking. “I’m going to get another coffee,” Charlie said over him, not bothering to listen to his response as she got into line behind the other girl._

_She reached out to tap her on the shoulder then hesitated, wondering if she should even be bothering her at all. What had been her name again? It was something sort of strange… Vagatha, that was it. Charlie pulled her hand back, biting her lip, her eyes traveling down the other woman’s back. No, she should say hi at least, right? What if Vagatha turned around and saw her standing there and she didn’t say hi? What then? She’d think she was some kind of stuck up bitch, that was what._

_Lost in her own panicked thoughts, Charlie hadn’t realized that Vagatha had already ordered and turned around, raising an eyebrow at her. “Um… excuse me?”_

_Charlie jumped as she realized she was standing right in the other woman’s way, effectively blocking her path to the pickup window to collect her coffee. “Oh! Hi again! I mean, I’m sorry. I mean, I was going to say hi but I didn’t want you to think I was – am I in your way? This sentence isn’t coming out how I thought it would…” Charlie felt her face heating up as she quickly scurried out of the moth’s way to free her path._

_Vagatha just blinked at her for a moment, a small, amused smile forming. “I thought Princesses were supposed to be all poise and things like that.”_

_“Oh… yeah…” Charlie laughed a little nervously, “Um, right… well… um, could I – could I pay for your coffee? As a thank you for guarding at the palace a couple weeks ago?”_

_The moth cocked her head at her, looking confused. “Your parents paid me.”_

_“Of course…” Charlie cleared her throat, “Well, if I need a guard again, I’ll know who to call, right?”_

_“Right…” Vagatha said slowly, moving to the pickup area as her number was called and collecting her drink. “See you around, Princess.”_

_“It’s Charlie!” Charlie called after her as she watched the other woman walk off._

_Sev frowned at her empty hands as she returned to the table. “Weren’t you just getting another drink? Where is it?”_

_Charlie blinked as she suddenly remembered she had indeed said she was going to get another coffee. “…I forgot.”_

_Sev snorted, reaching over to ruffle her hair derisively. “You’re such an airhead. That’s why I love ya.”_

_“Mhm…” Charlie hummed non-committedly, her eyes traveling over to the door where she’d watched Vagatha leave. Lucifer could be protective when the mood struck him, maybe she could convince him she needed a personal guard. And she’d know just who to call._

\--- 

Charlie was sure the pounding of her heart could be heard throughout the entire hotel as she scurried around the rooms in the main floor of the hotel, making final checks and hoping against hope that her parents would at least be somewhat impressed. 

Vaggie followed her around with her hands out, constantly placating, constantly trying to calm the panic of her girlfriend. “Hun, it’ll be fine, I swear your dad doesn’t care about dust.” 

“You don’t know that, Vaggie! Who knows what he’s been doing for the past few months, huh?! What if he suddenly hates dust?! Then what?!” 

“Charlie, breathe,” Vaggie said, catching the princess by the shoulders to keep her still for just a moment. “Just take it one step at a time. They’re not even here yet.” 

“But they will be,” Charlie said. “Any minute now!” 

“But they’re not _now_ ,” Vaggie said. “So breathe. I really don’t want to explain to the King why his daughter is passed out on the floor of the lobby, okay?” 

“Right,” Charlie closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. “Thank you, Vaggie…” 

“Ew, get a room,” Angel’s voice teased from where he was descending the stairs, smirking as Vaggie turned to give him an irritated scowl. 

“Angel, I thought you left already,” Charlie said, folding her hands together to stop their trembling. “Are you sure you don’t want to stick around? I’m sure mom and dad would –“ 

“No thanks, toots,” Angel said. “’Sides, I can’t. Since I figured I’d be steerin’ clear of the hotel today, I picked up a double shift.” 

“Okay,” Charlie sighed, her blood pressure going up immediately as she heard a familiar car horn beep outside. "Shit, they’re here. They’re here. What do we do? Vaggie? What do we –“ 

“We _breathe_ ,” Vaggie insisted, “It’s just your parents. And uh, your uncle. It’ll be fine. We’ll just take them through what we’ve been doing, and they’ll leave. That’s all.” 

“That’s all,” Charlie nodded, “Right, yeah! That’s all. I hope they like it…” 

“Darling!” The doors to the hotel blew open with a dramatic burst of fire, and Lilith breezed into the atrium, Lucifer following behind, glancing around at the hallway curiously.

“Mom!” Charlie ran to hug her mother, who pulled her into a tight enough squeeze to make Charlie’s eyes bulge. “I – missed you…” 

“We missed you too, sweetheart,” Lilith said, finally pulling away, “But you know how it is with your father, business this, business that. Isn’t that right, Lucifer, dear?” 

“Quite,” Lucifer said, his eyebrows raising as his gaze fell onto Angel. “Well, well. Angel Dust – nice to see you again.” 

“Same, your Highness,” Angel smirked, before saluting to Charlie, “An’ that’s my cue ta leave. See ya later, Cha-Cha.” 

“Um, well, how about a tour?” Charlie squeaked out, trying not to think too hard about the implications of what her father recognizing Angel Dust meant as the spider headed out the door. 

“Of course, darling,” Lilith nodded, folding her hands in front of her. 

Charlie turned, then hesitated, turning back. “Wait – where’s Uncle Gabriel? Wasn’t he coming?” 

“Oh, he’ll be along,” Lucifer said with a roll of his eyes, “With a dramatic entrance, no doubt.” His eyes fell on Vaggie, “Will your guard be accompanying us?” 

Vaggie’s face soured, but she wisely didn’t say anything as Charlie sighed. “Dad, we’ve been over this – Vaggie isn’t my guard, she’s my girlfriend, remember?” 

“Charlotte, remember, we’ve talked about dating the help –“ 

“Dear!” Lilith interrupted, “Charlotte is a grown woman now, who can make her own choices in whom she dates. Now, shall we go along on this tour?” 

“Yeah!” Charlie said, trying to gain some of her enthusiasm back. “So, um, this is the lobby and bar area…” 

Lucifer wasn’t really paying attention, running his hands over the peeling wallpaper. “I am proud that you decided to use this one of our buildings for your little idea, sweetie.” 

Charlie’s heart leapt in excitement, “You are?”  


“Of course, it’s so decrepit. A perfect venue for torturing lost souls.” 

Charlie felt her stomach sinking as she exchanged a glance with Vaggie, who looked just as confused. “Torturing souls?” 

“Yes, that’s what this hotel is, isn’t it?” Lucifer asked, glancing up at the ceiling, “Make them believe they have a chance at redemption to torture them more. A very clever idea, my dear, terribly embarrassed I hadn’t thought of it myself, actually.” 

“Um… that’s not…” Charlie winced as a loud boom shook the hotel, the air fizzling with lightning. Lucifer rolled his eyes as all the lights went out. 

“And that will be your uncle. What a drama whore.” 

The lights slowly came back on again, all somehow seeming to illuminate one spot in the center of the lobby, essentially creating a spotlight for the man who stood under it. Large and muscled with impossibly bright blonde hair, Gabriel stood imposing over them all, his angelic wings folded neatly behind his back. “Brother.” 

“Gabriel,” Lucifer said. “My, my. What an… interesting form you’ve chosen. Got tired of the giant flaming wheel with eyes, did you?” 

“You know very well my natural form wouldn’t fit inside any structure,” Gabriel said. 

“Sounds like a pain in the ass.” 

Gabriel frowned at him, then looked down at Charlie. “Hello, niece. You have grown since I’ve last seen you.” 

“Hello!” Charlie said cheerily, “I’m glad you’re here, actually, Uncle Gabriel, because I have a lot of questions about, um, redemption and –“ 

“Wait.” Gabriel’s gaze fell onto Vaggie, “Who is this?” 

“I don’t think you’ve met,” Charlie said, “That’s Vaggie, my girlfriend. She’s helping me with the hotel.” 

Gabriel stared down at Vaggie for an uncomfortable amount of time. “I see. Is there somewhere private we may speak? Family only.” 

“Oh – Vaggie is practically family,” Charlie said, “I mean, we’ve been together a long time now, and –“ 

“No,” Gabriel said, his voice seeming to boom around the entire room, “Magne royalty and myself only.” 

Charlie’s shoulders slumped a little as she glanced at Vaggie, but the moth gave her a small smile. “It’s okay, hun. I’ll… stand watch outside. Just in case.” 

Charlie reached out to squeeze Vaggie’s hand for just a moment, remembering what her girlfriend had said to her earlier. They’d come, they’d hear about the hotel, they’d leave. She just had to get through this meeting, and then she could get back to Vaggie and the hotel. She could do this. 

She squared her shoulders and lifted her chin, turning back to her family. “We can use my office. Right this way.” 

She led the way into her office, missing the look of pure hatred Gabriel shot to Vaggie as he shut the door behind them.


	3. Chapter 3

Vaggie stood outside the door of Charlie’s office for a good twenty minutes before she realized she didn’t actually need to be standing there, and moved herself over to one of the empty stools at Husk’s bar. She wasn’t sure where the cat had gotten off to, but it actually felt strange without him muttering to himself and moving back and forth behind the bar. The whole hotel felt weirdly empty, without Angel blasting music from his phone or arguing with Alastor, without Niffty zipping around. 

She straightened up as the door to Charlie’s office opened, but to her surprise, only Gabriel stepped out, closing the door behind him once again. 

He took a few strides into the center of the lobby, looking around, before his eyes fell upon her. Again, that look of disgust and hatred fell over his face. Vaggie’s flight response was raging, and it took all of her willpower to not run from him, straight out of the hotel. Instead, she schooled her expression and quelled the trembling of her hands by folding her arms over her chest as she stood. 

“Where’s Charlie?” 

“She and her parents had a few matters to discuss that were of no interest to me. I’ve concluded my business.” 

“So why are you still here?” 

Blue eyes pierced into her own. “You.” 

Vaggie’s arms dropped to her sides in surprise, her mouth opening but no sound coming out as her heartbeat increased. “…M-me?” She cursed herself internally for the stutter, but she felt that piercing gaze might incinerate her if she wasn’t careful. _Where_ was Charlie? Surely she knew a sinner alone with an Archangel was dangerous? 

“I don’t presume to know why my brother chooses the forms he does for the loathsome sinners that fall down here,” Gabriel said, staring down at her like she was a worm he was about to crush underneath his shoe, “But I do know that moths are constantly chasing a light they once felt.” 

He extended his wings to their full, impressive length, taking up most of the lobby, before wrapping them around himself. “Farewell, Vagatha.” A flash of golden light, and he was gone. 

Vaggie stood trembling, staring at the spot where he’d disappeared, wondering when she’d ever mentioned her full name. 

It took another hour for Charlie to come out of her office, followed by Lucifer and Lilith. Lucifer was shaking his head as he and his wife headed for the exit. “But I just don’t _get_ it.” 

“Yes, darling, we all know you don’t understand,” Lilith rolled her eyes, “I’ll explain properly when we get home.” Once they reached the door, Lilith turned to cup Charlie’s cheek. “Remember what we talked about, dear. And do stay in touch.” 

“Bye, mom…” Charlie said softly, closing the door after them as they stepped out. She leaned her forehead against the wood, jumping a little as Vaggie approached her and lay a hand on her shoulder. 

“All okay?” 

Charlie took a breath, forcing a smile onto her face. “Of course! Well – dad doesn’t really understand the hotel still, but mom does. She’s okay with it for now, but she said if we can’t get someone redeemed within the year we’ll have to revisit it. It is her building, after all…” 

“Hm…” Vaggie said. “That’s kind of a tight deadline.” 

“But we’re doing so well already,” Charlie said. “I think it’ll be okay.” 

“What about your… you know, your uncle,” Vaggie said. “Did he tell you if it’s even possible?” 

Charlie’s smile dipped a little. “He avoided the question, but he did make it pretty clear he’s not on board with the idea. Honestly, I think even just Gabriel not liking the idea made dad more on board with it. Or it would, if he actually understood what we were doing here. Mom did say she was impressed with the progress though!” She winced a bit, “I didn’t mention Alastor helping out.” 

“Best not to, probably,” Vaggie agreed. 

“Welp!” Charlie clapped her hands together, straightening her jacket out, “We’ve got a clear deadline. C’mon, Vaggie! We’ve got a lot of work to do. I wanna get a list prepared before everyone comes back tonight!” 

Charlie walked off purposefully, obviously expecting Vaggie to follow. The moth hesitated, glancing back to the slightly scorched spot on the carpet where Gabriel had disappeared. Something was coming back to her, itching at the back of her brain, but she couldn’t quite figure out what it must be. With a sigh, she shoved it to the back of her mind, hurrying to follow her girlfriend. 

“Wait a minute, Charlie, if you pull the glitter out again, Niffty will kill us!” 

\---- 

_Vagatha often wondered if her particular punishment in Hell was to be eternal boredom. At Lucifer’s request, she’d accepted a job as Princess Charlotte’s personal bodyguard. It was an easy gig and paid well, so Vagatha should’ve been set for the rest of her afterlife._

_Except for the fact that it meant following Charlotte around on whatever a princess did during the day, which, as it turned out, wasn’t a whole lot. There weren’t a ton of security threats since anyone dumb enough to actually try to threaten the princess had probably gotten themselves erased already, and Charlotte’s actual royal duties took up maybe ten minutes of their day._

_The rest of the time was spent either watching as Charlotte worked on arts and crafts in the palace, spent time with her parents, or in this particular instance, heading to the mall with a gaggle of so-called friends that made Vaggie want to hurl them all over a cliff. Charlotte had politely invited Vagatha to join them in all these activities of course, but the moth had declined, citing unprofessionalism and definitely not wanting to get on Lucifer’s bad side._

_So now, she followed at a safe distance so as to not draw attention as Charlotte wandered the halls of a Gluttony shopping center with her boyfriend and two simpering hanger-on girls who Vagatha couldn’t remember the names of. They were school friends or something like that – it didn’t matter. They didn’t pose any danger to the princess, so they weren’t of any importance._

_The boyfriend, however…_

_Vagatha didn’t trust Seviathan at all. He was always trying to get Charlotte to sneak off to shadowy places out from under her gaze, touching in places and never backing off even when Charlotte’s body language screamed discomfort. So far Vagatha hadn’t caught him doing anything particularly untoward, but she couldn’t wait for the day she could spear him._

_The clique had settled down to eat some junk food at a nearby fountain, so Vagatha found herself a seat at the food court, close enough to be able to leap in if any trouble happened, but far enough away that she wouldn’t be looming and interrupting them. The crash of the fountain masked their words, but she could still hear some of it. Loud peals of laughter came from the simpering girls as Sev said something, smirking at their reactions. Interestingly, Charlotte didn’t look amused at all._

_“Sev, we talked about this. Can you not make fun of me in front of our friends?”_

_“Aw, c’mon, babe,” Sev said, slipping an arm around the princess’s shoulders, sidling closer when she made a move away, “We’re not laughing at you, we’re laughing with you!”_

_“Well I’m not laughing.”_

_“Geez.” Sev’s grin dropped as he rolled his eyes, “Do you really have to be such a downer all the time? We’re having fun.”_

_“No, you’re having fun,” Charlotte pointed out, “And I wouldn’t call me asking you not to make fun of me being a ‘downer.’ You know what, forget it. I didn’t really want to come here today anyway.”_

_She picked Seviathan’s arm off her shoulder, standing up and straightening out her clothes before turning on her heel to walk away. Alert as ever, Vagatha stood too, ready to follow Charlotte wherever she was going._

_Seviathan moved forward, grabbing Charlotte’s wrist, pulling her back to him. “Don’t be like that…”_

_Before Charlotte even had a second to protest, Vaggie was in between them, pulling Charlotte away from the demon and placing a sharpened blade underneath his chin. “Step away now, little boy, before you end up erased.”_

_Sev raised his eyebrows, “Really? C’mon, Charlie, I was just kidding. Call off your little guard.”_

_Charlotte folded her arms. “I told you I was leaving. Maybe now you’ll respect me when I tell you things. Vagatha, if you would escort me, please.”_

_Vagatha moved toward Sev a little, smirking when he flinched back. “Gladly.”_

_Charlotte moved like royalty as they walked away from Seviathan and the other girls, her head held high and her strides even and determined. As soon as they rounded the corner, out of Sev’s sight, she relaxed her posture and let out a little giggle as she leaned against the wall. “That was great. Want to get a milkshake?”_

_“I –“ Vagatha felt like she had whiplash, “What?”_

_“Sev needed to learn a lesson,” Charlotte shrugged, “And he bugged me so I don’t really feel like hanging out with him anymore today. But I do want to try the milkshake place. I hear it’s really good.”_

_“If you want to get a milkshake, I won’t stop you.”_

_“Noo, come on,” Charlotte smiled, “Join me. You always look so bored! Call it a thank you for helping me out with Sev just now? Or do I have to make it a royal command?”_

_Vagatha hesitated, then nodded. “Alright. I’ll join you for a milkshake.”_

_“Great!” Charlie took her hand and pulled her along. “You’ll love it.”_

\--- 

“Ya gotta be fuckin’ kiddin’ me!” 

“Language, Angel,” Vaggie chided, but her heart wasn’t in it. She was still thinking about her little interaction with Gabriel earlier in the afternoon, and so she’d been in somewhat of a fugue state as Charlie gathered all the hotel residents in the lobby for a meeting as soon as everyone had returned. 

Angel paged through the thick document that Charlie had spent most of the afternoon and evening writing, with input from Vaggie of course. 

“I ain’t spendin’ my Saturday mornin’s…” He squinted at the text on the page, “Doin’ drag storytime for imp children? The fuck?” 

“Come on, Angel,” Charlie said, “You’re so good at drag, and you like kids, you said so! Drag storytime is really popular now in the living world, I saw a whole documentary about it. This will be great for your redemption!” 

“It’s one weekend morning,” Vaggie backed Charlie up, “Or you could go with our other option, which was having you come up with your own ideas for a good deed each week without any help from us.” 

Angel grumbled at her, folding his upper arms, his lower ones still holding onto the packet. “….Fine. But not a word breathed about it to anyone else, got it? I still gotta reputation ta maintain, y’know. The fuck is up with all these new rules, anyway? I can’t even read through half this shit. Does this say no swearin’? Y’know that’s impossible for an Italian, right?” 

“I didn’t want to say anything to worry you…” Charlie said, “But we have a definite deadline now. If no one is redeemed within the next year, my mom will probably shut down the hotel. I didn’t know what counted as sins or not, but I figured swearing might be one! So as much as you can, try not to swear, okay?” 

Angel glowered at her. “I may as well not even fuckin’ talk.” 

“Ha, if only!” Alastor finally spoke up, paging through his own copy of the document. “I, for one, welcome the idea of a deadline.” His shadows creeped up on them as sigils danced in the air around his head, his neck moving at an impossible angle, “Nothing like a bit of panic to keep the old success at bay, eh?” 

“Stop that,” Husk grumbled from his end of the couch, taking a swig from the bottle he held. 

“Are you sure you don’t want to officially try for your own redemption, Husker?” Charlie tried, getting a scoff from the cat. 

“No thanks, blondie. I’m only in this damn place ‘cause Alastor’s makin’ me be. Redemption ain’t in the cards." 

“Okay…” 

Vaggie could tell Charlie was trying to keep her own energy up, and she stepped forward to place a hand on her shoulder, getting a grateful smile from her girlfriend. 

“I think we’re doing okay enough with Angel for now – if anyone else does want to try for redemption, come and see us. Thanks for listening – meeting’s over.” 

Angel was still pouting, kicking one heeled foot up and down. “Yeah, yeah, &*@!% you.” He blinked a hand going to his mouth, then experimentally tried again, “&%$!*. What’s goin’ on?!” 

“That would be me,” Alastor grinned from behind him. “Since you are so worried about not being able to swear, I thought I would help you out. That sound will come out whenever you try.” 

“Um, thanks, Alastor,” Charlie chuckled nervously, “Not sure if a spell counts but… it’s a start.” 

Angel looked like he was thinking about murdering them all right there, so Vaggie decided to get herself and Charlie out of the spider’s line of sight, taking Charlie’s arm and dragging her to the stairs, “Have a good one! Thanks again! Night!” 

\--- 

_Heaving bodies, screams of terror, smoke filling the air. Vagatha used her spear to prop up a body that had fallen across her, tossing it down a mountain of similar corpses, watching dispassionately as it splattered blood onto concrete._

_Another soldier signaled to her. She knew what that signal meant: return. Time to return to the embrace of her brethren, their dirty work done here for another year._

_Returning felt good, a rush of pleasure as they marched through the gates. A barren wasteland, misty and foggy, obscuring the light on the horizon, the light they were all constantly marching toward._

Vaggie sat up, almost cursing as she realized she’d woken up in the middle of the night again. This was starting to become a habit, and she didn’t like it. Just like always, the nightmare was slipping through her fingers, but she had a feeling it had actually included something important this time. If only she could remember. 

She glanced down at Charlie, but the blonde was fast asleep, snoring softly, her arm flung above her as if she’d just been dropped there from above. 

She decided she needed some air, and just like the previous night, stepped through the French doors onto their balcony. She wasn’t expecting to see Angel Dust just a few feet away from her, leaning on the railing of his own balcony, smoking a cigarette. 

“…Angel?” 

He blinked and looked over at her, glancing at the cigarette for a moment before shrugging and taking another drag. “Hey, Vags.” 

“What are you doing?” 

“What’s it look like? I couldn’t *&%!* sleep.” Angel winced as they were both reminded of Alastor’s spell. “I hope that’s just effective inside the hotel. Val ain’t gonna like it if I can’t say my lines.” 

Vaggie raised her eyebrow at him. “You have lines?” 

“Ain’t you ever watched my sh – uh, my stuff?” 

“I’m a lesbian, Angel.” 

“So? Doesn’t mean ya can’t appreciate high art.” 

Vaggie rubbed at her forehead, “No, I haven’t.” 

“Well, I do have lines. Sometimes. An’ they do involve a lotta swearin’.” 

“I’m sure if it’s a problem we can talk to Charlie.” 

“Yeah…” Angel looked down at the city below them, the smoke curling around him. “She seems a little… er… manic today.” 

Vaggie nodded in agreement but didn’t elaborate. She followed his gaze down to the city, then bit her lip. “Hey – Angel?” 

“Hm?” 

“Why _are_ you going for redemption?” 

Angel frowned at that. “Ain’t the free room an’ board a clue?” 

Vaggie shook her head. “If it was just that you would’ve left by now. Especially with all Charlie’s rules and activities. And I know Alastor bugs you.” 

Angel let out a deep sigh, stubbing out his cigarette, leaning against the rail instead. “I guess I dunno. Maybe just… the feelin’ that anywhere’s gotta be betta than here? A fresh start?” 

Vaggie crossed her arms against her chest, hugging herself against the chilly night. “And… what if it turned out… Heaven isn’t really that nice?” 

“Then why the %$&*& would they call it Heaven?” Angel said, then groaned at his own censored sentence. 

Vaggie bit her lip. “I’m just… I was just… wondering. Maybe it isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.” 

“Guess we won’t know ‘less someone gets there, right?” Angel shrugged. “It ain’t like it’s gonna really happen anyway.” 

They stood in silence for a few moments, Vaggie contemplating that, Angel lighting up a fresh cigarette. 

“So,” Angel said after a while, “Given any more thought to where ya wanna propose to the little princess?” 

Vaggie let out a somewhat relieved sigh – finally, something she actually wanted to talk about. “You know all the classy places, right? Why don’t you tell me what you think?”


	4. Chapter 4

_“What do you even like about that guy?”_

_Charlie looked up from where she was inspecting the puzzle piece she held in her hand, trying to decide if it was a bit of sky or water. “Who?”_

_Vagatha rolled her eyes at the princess from across the table where she fiddled with a corner puzzle piece. They were in Charlie’s bedroom in the palace, a card table set up by the window so they could work on the puzzle together._

_Charlie had meant to be going to some kind of fair with Sev, but at the last minute he’d canceled on her, without citing any particular reason. Charlie hadn’t really been too broken up about it – she’d actually been dreading going to the fair with him, so she was more than happy to pull the puzzle out to pass the afternoon instead. After a little bit of wheedling it hadn’t been too hard to get her bodyguard to join her._

_“What do you mean who?” The moth asked, trying to fit a piece and shaking her head when it wouldn’t go in, “Your boyfriend.”_

_“Oh.” Charlie had been wondering that herself, lately, if she was brutally honest. She couldn’t even say she felt any deep love for Sev. They’d gotten together in hell school when she’d mentioned to a friend that she thought Sev was funny, and it turned out that particular friend had promised to help Sev find a girlfriend. So it all worked out. For a while.  
Charlie’s parents had approved of the match. They were friends with Sev’s parents, after all, and a little bit of high-class mingling never hurt anyone. _

_It was okay for a while, Seviathan playing the part of charming boyfriend, showing her off at coffee shops and buying her surprise gifts and holding her hand on strolls through the park. They settled into some semblance of a comfortable relationship, even as hell school ended. But sometimes his once funny comments were a little too cruel at her expense, he became a little too pushy when they were alone, and she’d started to feel dread when he’d text her to tell her he was coming to hang out. Still, it was hard to admit to anyone but herself._

_“He’s… funny,” Charlie said finally. Lamely._

_“Really? Because when you talk about him it kind of sounds like you hate him.”_

_Charlie fumbled the puzzle piece. “What… what do you mean?”_

_Vagatha snorted, “Nothing, nevermind, just a tone, I guess. It isn’t my place to say, anyway.”_

_“Right. It isn’t. He’s my boyfriend,” Charlie nodded, as if that explained everything. They sat together quietly for a minute, Vagatha finally snapping the four edges of the puzzle together with one corner piece. Charlie glanced up at her, watching the other woman concentrate. Vagatha’s eyes snapped up, and Charlie was caught._

_“What?”_

_“Nothing,” Charlie said, feeling her already red cheeks growing warm, “Just wondering about… you. Do you have a boyfriend?”_

_Vagatha snorted. “I’m not interested in men.”_

_“Like at all?”_

_“What did I just say?”_

_Charlie bit her lip. “Sorry. That’s interesting though! So, um, do you have a girlfriend?”_

_“No.”_

_Charlie nodded, going back to the puzzle. That was interesting. Very interesting indeed._

\---- 

Charlie stood with Vaggie in the back of a hell elementary school classroom, trying to keep the wide smile off her face. They’d accompanied Angel Dust to the school to ensure he actually made good on his promise to do the drag story time and as it turned out, not only was he good at it, it was adorable. She angled her phone to take a picture as Angel turned the page of the book he’d been reading to the imp kids, who were sitting in a circle around his feet. 

“An’ so he picked up the hatchet, an’ – do you kids know what a hatchet is? C’mon, ya live in hell, how d’ya not know?!” 

“He’s weirdly good at this,” Vaggie leaned in to mutter to Charlie, who smiled wider. 

“I know! I knew this was a good idea. It’ll be great for his redemption.” 

“An’ they all danced around the corpse and lived happily ever, the end,” Angel said, a smirk growing on his features. “Sooo… who has any questions for your Princess?” 

“Whoa – wait a minute – Angel!” Vaggie yelled as they were immediately mobbed by a swarm of imp children, practically clambering over each other to get closer to Charlie, who laughed. 

“They’re all so cute!” 

“Cute is an interesting choice of words, hun,” Vaggie said, reaching behind her to yank off an imp kid who was literally clawing his way up her back. 

“C’mon, Vags,” Angel said, standing up and pulling out a mirror to straighten out his wig, “Surely ya wanna help out your own redemption too? Be nice ta the kiddos!”

“Oh, be quiet,” Vaggie rolled her eyes. 

Charlie managed to free herself of the grasping imp children, moving over to Angel instead. “Thanks so much for doing this – you’re one step closer to your redemption now, I can feel it!” 

“Yeah, yeah,” Angel said. “Whateva. I guess the kids were kinda cute.” 

“Mhm,” Charlie nodded, “And you deserve a good boy reward! What do you say we all go to the milkshake place? We can talk more about your redemption and maybe getting other demons interested in the hotel!” 

“Not sure I’d call that a reward, but if you’re buyin’,” Angel shrugged. “I guess so. Not like I got anywhere I gotta be ‘til tonight anyway.” 

“I thought you were off tonight?” Charlie frowned, “Where are you going?” 

Angel just shrugged with a small grin, “Some things gotta stay private, Cha-Cha. Er, ya might wanna save ya girlfriend before she starts swingin’ that spear o’ hers around.” 

Charlie turned to see Vaggie half buried in a swarm of imp children and laughed, moving forward to take the moth’s hand and pull her free, giving her a light kiss. “Sorry.” 

Vaggie shook her head, though her facial expression was amused as she returned it. “The things I do for you.” 

“Bye, kids,” Angel said as they headed out. “Remember to play with anything sharp and pointy you come across!” 

“Angel!” 

\--- 

It was late afternoon, nearly dusk, by the time the trio finally returned to the hotel. Despite all his complaining, Angel actually did have some good ideas, and the day had gotten away from them a bit as they talked and debated over milkshakes. 

That hadn’t stopped Charlie from noticing how quiet Vaggie had gotten, though. She’d been acting a little strangely the past few days, especially since the visit from Lucifer and Lilith. She’d even backed off from rising to Angel’s bait, hardly arguing with him at all. 

Once they made it to the hotel, Angel made his excuses and hurried off somewhere. Vaggie made to do the same, pausing when Charlie caught her hand. 

“Vaggie, is everything okay?” 

The moth cocked her head. “Why wouldn’t it be?” 

“It’s just… you’ve been a bit quiet lately… you know you can talk to me about anything, right?” 

“Of course, Charlie,” Vaggie smiled, reaching up to smooth some errant blonde hair from Charlie’s face, “I’m okay, I promise. But – would you mind doing me a favor?” 

Charlie nodded, “Of course, anything.” 

Vaggie took both of Charlie’s hands. “Come out with me tonight. Let’s have a proper date night. You’ve been working so hard – we both deserve to be treated a little. The hotel can wait for one night.” 

Charlie bit her lip, her mind running through all the things she still needed to do for the hotel for the evening, but Vaggie was looking at her so earnestly, she just couldn’t refuse. After all, Vaggie was right – she’d been so busy with the hotel, it had been a while since they’d just had a night to enjoy together. She nodded. “Okay.” 

Vaggie looked relieved, and for a moment Charlie felt guilty that Vaggie even thought she might say no. 

“I have reservations at a spot in the Pride district,” Vaggie said, “Not too far from the palace. It’s for eight o’clock, okay?” 

“Perfect,” Charlie smiled, “Is there a dress code?” 

“High-class,” Vaggie nodded, squeezing Charlie’s hand again, “Just the best for the princess.” 

Charlie giggled, “You always know what to say.” 

Her phone buzzed in her pocket, and she reached for it, her eyebrows raising as she realized the text was from her mother. So much contact in such a short amount of time was unusual for Lilith. 

“Mom wants me to stop by the palace…” Charlie said. “Apparently she wants to talk to me about something? I hope she hasn’t changed her mind about the hotel… “ she sighed, placing the phone away again, giving another smile to Vaggie, who was watching her with a concerned look. 

“This shouldn’t take long. I’ll just change at the palace and meet you at the restaurant at eight, okay? Text me the address.” 

Vaggie nodded, pulling Charlie back for a moment for another kiss, “Be careful, okay? Don’t let them bully you.” 

“Never do!” Charlie saluted as she headed to the limo that was waiting for her, her smile dropping as soon as her back was turned. She hated going back to the palace. 

\--- 

“Darling!” Lilith met Charlie at the door, her arms sweeping to show off the new gown she was draped in. She looked down at Charlie’s attire with a critical eye, but didn’t say anything about it, giving her cheeks air kisses instead. 

“Hey, mom,” Charlie said. “Whatever you wanted to talk to me about, can we do it quickly? Vaggie’s going to take me out tonight, and I think – “ 

“Ah yes, Vagatha. The old bodyguard,” Lilith said. “She’s who we wanted to talk to you about, sweetheart. Come along, your father’s in the entertainment room.” 

Lilith turned on a heel, striding away, not even turning to see if Charlie was following. The princess hurried after her, struggling to keep up with her mother’s brisk pace. “Wait – you wanted to talk about Vaggie? Not the hotel?” 

A grimace flitted across Lilith’s face at the mention of the hotel, but she shook her head. “You’ll see in just a moment, dear.” 

Charlie huffed, “Look, mom, I know you never really approved of me dating Vaggie, but we’ve been together a long time, she’s good for me. We love each other, and –“ 

“Here we are!” Lilith flung open a large set of doors that led into an entertainment room decked out with plush couches and a floor to ceiling television. Lucifer lounged on one of the couches, a remote held in his hand. He smiled when the two women stepped in. 

“Ah, my two favorite ladies.” 

“Dad, I don’t have time for this weird mystery game you and mom are playing,” Charlie said. “Just talk to me what you need to talk to me about.” 

Lucifer and Lilith shared a glanced, and Lucifer patted the seat next to him. “Have a seat, Charlotte.” 

“Charlie,” Charlie corrected, but still sat primly on the edge of the couch. “Well?” 

“I’m trying to think of how to put this delicately, dearest,” Lucifer said. 

“Oh, for goodness’ sake, just tell her,” Lilith said. “She’s an adult.” 

Charlie’s eyes narrowed. “Tell me what?” 

Lucifer sighed. “You know your uncle Gabriel came to visit the other day?” Charlie nodded. “Well,” Lucifer continued, “He seemed quite taken with your little girlfriend. He said a few things which I found quite interesting, irritating as he is. So I thought I might do a bit of research – and thanks to that Vox fellow I was able to get some answers. Interesting fellow, Vox, did you know he –“ 

“Lucifer!” Lilith said, and the king shook his head, getting back on track. 

“Right. Anyway, he was able to provide some CCTV footage of an Extermination from a few years ago, probably around the time you were entering hell school.” 

Charlie felt her chest go cold as her heart plummeted to her stomach. “….Why would a years old Extermination matter?” 

“This is why.” Lucifer lifted the remote, clicking the TV on. Grainy footage of the usual Extermination carnage began to play – panicked demons being impaled by faceless angels. Charlie turned her face away, but Lucifer placed his fingers under her chin, turning her face back towards the TV. “You need to see this.” 

After a moment, a pile of bodies began to rise just below where the camera was placed, and something – another angel – was crawling on top of it. Spattered with blood, but this time, not faceless. Vaggie. 

Vaggie without her bow and with both eyes, but undeniably, definitely, Vaggie. Clad in the attire of angels, holding a spear as she effortlessly thrust it through the skull of a fleeing demon. 

Charlie felt like she was suffocating. 

“Vaggie… Vaggie’s…” 

“An angel,” Lilith said matter-of-factly. “An apparently fallen one, but an angel just the same.” 

Charlie put her hand to her head. “No, no, this is – this is wrong. This has to be some kind of mistake. Dad, it’s a mistake, right?” 

“There’s no mistake,” Lucifer said firmly, standing to join Lilith. “And if you know what’s good for you, you’ll break it off as soon as you can.” 

“That’s all,” Lilith said, not turning back to her daughter as she and Lucifer strode out of the room, leaving Charlie feeling boneless and completely upturned. 

She needed to talk to Vaggie. That’s what she’d do. Vaggie would straighten this out – she always fixed everything. Always.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for how long it took me to get this chapter out, there's a lot of -emotions- and I wanted to make sure I got them right. Enjoy though! :)

Vaggie sat cross-legged on her and Charlie’s bed, watching as Angel flung things out of her closet. 

“No. No. No. Ewww, what the fuck? Where did ya get this? What even is this? No. No.” 

After Angel had helped her get them a premium spot at one of the top restaurants in Hell by using some of his limited favors, he’d offered to help Vaggie pick out something suitable to wear. Vaggie had agreed, but now was sort of starting to regret it, mostly because she hadn’t known how meticulous the spider was going to be in picking out an outfit. She’d already been sitting there for two hours. 

Eventually, Angel let out a deep sigh, pulling himself out of the closet, putting all four of his hands on his hips and fixing her with the most disappointed look she’d ever seen on him. “You literally got nothin’ suitable. All ya clothes are so… functional.” He almost looked like he might gag at the word. 

“So what do I do?” Vaggie asked, “I don’t have time to go buy a whole new dress. I guess I could just go like this.” 

“Like fuck ya goin’ ta propose to Cha-Cha wearin’ that same ol’ tired dress ya wear every damn day,” Angel said, shaking his head. “Nah. There ain’t nothin’ for it, ya just gonna hafta borrow one of mine.” 

Vaggie balked. “One of yours? Angel, I cannot show up to the restaurant looking like – like – an extra from one of your movies!” 

Angel rolled his eyes, “I’m a high-class whore, not a fuckin’ typical streetwalkin’ hoe. I got high class shit,” he crossed the room to beep her on the nose, “Yer majesty. I’ll be right back.” 

Vaggie twisted her hands as she waited for him to come back. She did try to show an outward appearance toward other demons of constantly being sure of herself – uncertainty could get you erased in Hell – but now, safely enclosed in her own bedroom, she could be honest with herself. She was nervous. Really, really nervous. It was normal to be nervous though, right? People probably got nervous before proposing all the time. At least, that was what she told herself. 

Still, she couldn’t help but worry a little. Lucifer and Lilith had never one hundred percent approved of their relationship, and she knew Charlie didn’t really care about that, but Vaggie cared. They were the rulers of Hell, after all – if they really decided they didn’t want her spending the rest of her afterlife with Charlie, they could make it very difficult for her. 

Angel came back before she could drag herself deeper into her own anxious thoughts, a bundle of pink fabric draped over one arm, carrying a small box in the other. He placed the box on Vaggie’s wardrobe, unfolding the dress he held and holding it up for her to see. “Ta da!” 

The dress was a dusty rose color, floor length, with asymmetrical sleeves, one long pink sleeve on one side, the other side leaving the wearer’s shoulder bare. The skirt and bodice glittered with shimmery pink beads. She bit her lip. 

“Don’t you think it’s a little much?” 

“Sometimes it’s fun to be a little much,” Angel shrugged, reaching for the box he’d set down, “Now get up on that chair.” 

“Why?” 

“Why?” Angel snorted, “Vags, I’m eight feet tall. Unless ya wanna look like you’re playin’ dress up in mommy’s clothes, this ain’t gonna fit ya ‘less I take up the hem a little.” He flipped open the box, revealing sewing supplies. 

“You know how to sew?” Vaggie asked, doing as Angel instructed and climbing up onto the chair, wobbling a little and grabbing onto his shoulder for support. 

“Oh, honey,” Angel said, “I was doin’ drag in the thirties and forties. ‘Course I know how ta sew, ya think I could just prance into a seamstress’ place an’ ask for a dress ta fit a man?” 

“Good point,” Vaggie said, watching as Angel eyeballed the hem of the dress before hoisting the extra fabric up around her ankles and pinning it there. “Won’t it be too short for you now, though?” 

“I’ll just let it out when ya done with it,” Angel shrugged, before smirking, “Unless it suddenly gets ripped off when ya two get home or ya start fuckin’ in it –“ 

“-Angel-“ 

“In which case, you’ll owe me a new one,” Angel winked, starting to sew the fabric into place. He finished after a few moments, straightening up and gently turning Vaggie by the shoulders so she could see herself in the mirror. “There. Suits pretty well, don’tcha think?” 

Vaggie had to admit Angel had been right in his dress choice. The soft pink set off her gray skin nicely, and it hugged her body in all the right parts without being too tight.   
Before she could say anything, Angel was swooping her hair up onto her head, tilting his head back and forth as he studied it. “Now for ya hair.” 

“What’s wrong with my hair?” 

“Vaggie. Honey. Are you bein’ deliberately obtuse or do ya just like torturin’ me?” Angel said, “It’s a special night, ya need a special hairdo. Just lemme do it. Trust me, okay?” 

“Just… can you leave my bad eye covered?” 

Angel frowned at her. “Why?” 

Vaggie just shrugged, rubbing at her arm. “I’m just… a little embarrassed… Charlie….” 

Angel mock gasped, his hands flying to his mouth. “Oh my god! You’re right! You’ve been together for, like, a million years, and somehow, she’s not noticed ya have one eye? How are ya eva gonna break it ta her?” 

Vaggie growled. “If you’re gonna make fun of me, you can just –“ 

“I’m not makin’ fun of ya,” Angel said, “Actually – okay, yes, I was, but – I was makin’ a point. We’re in Hell, people are missin’ limbs all ova the place, an’ Cha-Cha already thinks you’re hot. Show off all ya goods, sweetheart.” 

Vaggie let out a sigh, letting Angel push her gently down into the chair so it would be easier to reach her hair. “Yes. Okay. Fine. But please, nothing crazy.” 

“Nothin’ crazy’s my middle name.” 

\--- 

_Vagatha was bored – again. She had to admit, her boredom levels had been going down ever since becoming Princess Charlotte’s personal bodyguard – the blonde always had some kind of scheme going on, bouncing from one idea to the next, whether it was redecorating the greenhouse in the palace or trying to enact reformations to help Hell’s homeless. It was cute when Charlotte was fired up about something._

_The guard shook her head and turned her attention back to her cards. No, she couldn’t start thinking about a client as cute, that was when problems started. Besides, she hadn’t been called on for her services by the princess in days, resulting in her current boredom._

_She sat in a common area in the palace reserved for servants, playing a card game with one of the palace gardeners who was on a break. He was terrible at the game, and Vagatha was only half-paying attention to it as he really presented no challenge. She was debating which card to put down next when a startled murmuring rippling across the servants in the area made her turn to see what they were all muttering about._

_Charlotte, eyes big and swimming with tears, stood at the bottom of the steps, gripping one arm. Vagatha was on her feet immediately._

_“Char – um, princess,” she said, aware of the eyes on them, “Are you all right?”_

_Charlotte just sniffed and shook her head a little. “Can you come upstairs?”_

_Vagatha nodded, abandoning the card game and following Charlotte up into the living quarters of the palace. Once they were in Charlotte’s bedroom, the blonde shut the door, leaning against it with a heavy sigh. “I broke up with Sev.”_

_“Oh, um…” Vagatha hadn’t been expecting that, and she wasn’t particularly surprised, anyway. She could see the signs of Charlotte becoming more and more irritated with the green demon, even going so far as to avoid him. As far as Vagatha was aware, a breakup had been imminent, anyway. “Um, I’m sorry,” Vagatha said, trying to think of appropriate things to say, “Do you… want to talk about it?”_

_Charlotte pushed off the door to slump on the bed. “I know it was the right thing to do, but I just feel so bad. What if I hurt his feelings?”_

_“Then maybe he shouldn’t have been such a pompous little dick,” Vagatha shrugged, teasing a small laugh from the princess. “Look, nobody likes being broken up with, but I have a feeling that jerk will land on his feet in no time.”_

_“Heh, yeah…. You’re probably right…” Still, Charlotte gazed sadly at the floor. Vagatha watched her for a moment, head cocked before speaking up again._

_“Do you want me to take your mind off it?”_

_Charlotte looked up, her eyes wide and curious. “How?”_

_Vagatha reached out, taking her hand to tug her off the bed. “Follow me.”_

\---- 

Vaggie stood, nervously fidgeting, outside the restaurant as she waited for Charlie. A piece of hair from the simple French twist Angel had put her hair in fell into her face, and she brushed it back. She straightened up more as the Magne limo finally pulled up and Charlie stepped out. 

Charlie had changed; she wore a deep midnight blue jumpsuit with a floral lace pattern along the neckline, with white heels and a white clutch to match, which she tucked under her arm as she pushed the limo door shut. Vaggie waved, getting a tiny smile from Charlie. The princess looked a little paler than normal, her features pinched. Was she nervous too? Did she know why Vaggie had asked her here? 

“You look amazing, as always,” Vaggie said, reaching out to take her girlfriend’s hand. Charlie squeezed it. 

“Thank you, Vaggie. That’s a really pretty dress.” 

Not what Vaggie had been expecting, but maybe Charlie really was nervous. 

“Everything go okay with your parents?” 

“Um –“ 

Before Charlie could answer, their waiter, a large imp with curling black horns wearing a tuxedo came out, bowing to them. “Ladies, your table is ready.” 

Still holding hands, the women followed the imp into the quiet back of the house, where a small circular table with a red tablecloth and one lit candle waited for them. Their chairs were pulled out, and Vaggie let go of Charlie’s hand to sit down across from her. Menus were placed into their hands, and the imp scurried away to give them some time to look over the menu. 

Vaggie scanned down the menu, but she wasn’t really hungry – her stomach was too tight with nerves. Maybe she’d just get soup or something. She placed the menu down, glancing up at Charlie, but the princess’ face was hidden behind the menu. Vaggie cleared her throat nervously, picking up a spoon and inspecting her reflection in it before tapping her foot on the ground, trying to get rid of nervous energy. 

“Some champagne for the ladies,” another waiter came by, filling their glasses, leaving the bottle in an ice filled bucket before hurrying off. 

Finally, Charlie put her menu down, folding and unfolding her hands on the table, not making eye contact. Vaggie cocked her head. 

“You’re quiet tonight, hun. Is everything okay?” 

Charlie flicked her gaze up, finally meeting Vaggie’s. She swallowed. “Vaggie, I need… to… I need to ask you… I mean, tell you, um –“ 

Oh shit, had Charlie been planning to propose to her too? Vaggie quickly fumbled for her own clutch – if they were truly on the same page, she wanted to be the first to do it. “Wait, wait, Charlie. I think I know what you’re gonna say.” 

Charlie’s brow knit in confusion and worry. “You do?” 

Vaggie nodded, pulling the ring box out of her clutch and flipping it open, “Charlotte Magne, will you marry me?” 

Charlie’s hand flew to her mouth, her eyes filling with tears as she stared down at the ring box. “Oh, Vaggie, I – I –“ she pulled her hand away as Vaggie reached to slip the ring on, “I ca- can’t… I can’t… I’m so sorry.” Hiccuping back a sob, Charlie got up and ran out of the restaurant. 

Vaggie was left staring after her and holding the ring. 

\---

_Vagatha placed a smooth stone into Charlotte’s hand and pointed out over the water. “Okay, now flick your wrist like that – good!” They both watched as the stone skimmed over the lake._

_They stood on a pier overlooking a small, reddish lake on the other side of the Pentagram from the palace. It was a calm, serene place – at least, as calm as one could get in Hell – that Vagatha had discovered not too long after falling, and often used it as a place to escape._

_“I did it!” Charlotte clapped her hands and jumped up and down, earning a smile from Vagatha. The blonde let out a small contented sigh, moving to sit on the pier, dangling her legs over. She patted the wood, indicating the moth should sit next to her, which she did._

_“Thank you, Vagatha… that really did take my mind off… him.”_

_“He doesn’t deserve your thoughts, anyway,” Vagatha insisted. “He was shitty, and honestly, pretty mean to you.”_

_“I guess. He wasn’t always…” Charlotte shook her head, looking up at the sulfur flecks that passed for stars in the red sky. “Is Vagatha your real name? Your topside name?’_

_Vagatha’s hands fiddled with the hem of her skirt. “I’m… not sure. I don’t remember much before I fell, to be honest with you. I don’t know why, but I knew that was what I wanted to be called.”_

_Charlotte hummed in thought, glancing over at the moth. “Can I call you Vaggie?”_

_Vagatha hesitated for a moment – no one had ever given her a nickname. Of course, she never really spent enough time around people for that to happen, anyway. “…Yes. Of course.”_

_Charlotte scooted a little closer, swinging her legs back and forth. “Then you can call me Charlie.”_

\--- 

Vaggie walked slowly back into the hotel, arms wrapped around herself. Angel was leaning over the bar pestering Husker while Niffty sat on a stool nearby, swinging her legs back and forth as she sipped on a soda. They all turned to look at her as she entered the lobby - all she wanted to do was hide. 

“Eyyy!” Angel said, “So how’d it –“ He paused at the look on Vaggie’s face, taking in her body language. “Hey, what gives? Where’s Cha-Cha?” 

Vaggie flicked her gaze up. “She didn’t come back here?” 

“Haven’t seen her, an’ I been standin’ here pretty much since ya left,” Angel said. 

Vaggie bit her lip. “Maybe she went back to the palace. She… said no.” 

Angel, Husk and Niffty all exchanged a look before Husk bent under the bar and poured a shot of tequila into a glass, pushing it toward Vaggie and gesturing her to sit down. She did so, toying with the glass but not drinking it. 

“What happened?” Angel asked. 

“She seemed really nervous, and I thought she was going to propose too,” Vaggie said, “So I took out the ring and asked, and she started crying and said she couldn’t and ran out of the restaurant. I just don’t understand… we’ve been together for years, and we’ve talked about marriage before… it must be something I did, or… something… I just – I’ve been wracking my brain. I can’t think of anything.” 

“Maybe Alastor can help you figure it out!” Niffty said, slurping at the last of her soda. Vaggie frowned at her. 

“How can that weirdo help me?” 

Niffty shrugged her shoulders. “He spends lots of time with Charlie planning for the hotel, and he’s good at figuring things out!” 

“Why thank you, my diminutive friend,” Alastor said, appearing out of nowhere and smiling in delight at the scream it caused from Vaggie. “And through a series of quite fortuitous circumstances, I can indeed shed some light on our dear manager’s predicament.” 

Vaggie finally tossed the tequila back, closing her eyes in exhaustion. “What. What, Alastor. What do you think upset Charlie?” 

“Oh, I don’t think. I _know_.” Dramatic as ever, Alastor snapped his fingers, and the room went dark except for a spotlight on him. He twirled his microphone and sat down, as if he were about to present the most stirring monologue ever to reach their ears. “As you know, I keep many tabs on the other Overlords in the Pentagram, particularly Vox. Television needs radio waves to transmit, you know, so I ensure to monitor whatever that electrical nuisance is sending out. Strangely enough, just this morning the intrepid fellow sent a broadcast to Lucifer. Now, what on earth could Vox be sending to Lucifer, I wondered? Imagine my surprise when it was information that had to do with our dear Vagatha.” 

“Me?” Vaggie asked softly, “Charlie did go to her parents’ right before…” 

“And I quite imagine this was the reason for her upset,” Alastor said, skimming his microphone through the air and pulling up what appeared to be a movie screen, a black and white image of Vaggie in all her angelic glory, winged, haloed, crunching through sinners without batting an eye – or both eyes, in the image she had both eyes. Vaggie slowly reached a hand up to her bad eye as she stared, aware of Angel and Husk slowly stepping away from her. 

“This can’t be right,” Vaggie whispered. “I – I don’t remember… I’m not – I can’t be an angel. I can’t, I’m a sinner, too! I’m in Hell! I –“ she bit her lip as things started to fall into place. “I can’t…” 

“I’m afraid you can,” Alastor said, snapping his fingers to make the room go back to normal like it was nothing. “I do wish we knew what made you fall, I’m sure it would be an _extremely_ entertaining story.” 

Vaggie pressed her fists against her eye as panic swelled in her stomach. “I have to go. I have to find Charlie!” She turned to flee for the stairs, ignoring the hotel residents’ eyes on her. It couldn’t be true. She’d prove it wasn’t. She’d prove to Charlie it wasn’t her who’d done all those horrible things, wasn’t one of those terrible creatures Charlie was actively working against. She’d find a way. 

She needed to find Charlie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks as always for reading! Kudos and comments are always appreciated if you wish to, and if you wanna find me elsewhere, I'm Xingshou1 on Twitter.   
> Also, references for Vaggie and Charlie's outfits this chapter!   
> Vaggie: https://madamebridal.com/mac-duggal-4982m.html  
> Charlie: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/161214861640103372/


	6. Chapter 6

Charlie stared numbly down at one of the many plants in the solarium of her father’s castle, reaching out to pluck a dead leaf, watching as it crumbled in her hand. Nobody had been taking good care of her plants while she’d been away at the hotel, but that was to be expected. Lucifer never liked the idea of her having a greenhouse anyway – green things weren’t supposed to grow in Hell, but somehow, Charlie managed to coax the plants into thriving things, much to her father’s disappointment. 

Her phone buzzed in her pocket, and she took it out, looking at the screen. Three texts from Vaggie that she couldn’t bring herself to open; she’d expected the text at the top to be from Vaggie as well, but Angel’s name was emblazoned there instead. Probably telling her she was a dumb bitch for leaving Vaggie holding the ring like that. And he’d be right, she thought with a sigh, slipping her phone back without bothering to open the text. 

She didn’t know why she was here. She should’ve gone to the hotel – should’ve explained things to Vaggie. Instead she’d fled to the palace and let anxiety eat at her as she kept imagining Vaggie’s surprised and hurt face over and over. She knew she should go back, but she just couldn’t. Not right now. 

“Oh, there you are, darling.” A slice of light flooded through the darkened greenhouse as Lucifer opened the door, glancing around the room with distaste. “Honestly, I don’t understand why you bother yourself in here when plastic plants would do just as well. And would probably help our cause of damaging the environment upstairs, too.” He didn’t wait for Charlie to answer before he continued, “Your mother wants to know if you’re going to stay for dinner or if you’ve already eaten.” 

“I’ll stay,” she said quietly. “Dad? Why do angels fall?” 

Though Lucifer’s face stayed nonchalant, Charlie didn’t miss how his hand tightened on the handle of the door. “Oh, who knows,” he said, shrugging his shoulders. “Those feathered assholes have so many rules. It’s amazing more of them don’t fall.” 

“You fell.” 

Lucifer tapped his finger on the handle, an indication that he was moving from uncomfortable to irritated. “Yes. Well. That was a long time ago, Charlotte, a very long time ago. Now, are you coming or not? Your dinner will get cold.” 

Charlie sighed. “I’ll be there in a minute.” 

Lucifer nodded, closing the door behind him as he left. 

\--- 

_“Darn,” Charlie sighed as she picked up a wilted poinsettia, setting it aside and marking it on her list. “Okay, poinsettias aren’t good for Hell. I thought maybe they would since they’re poisonous, but I guess not.”_

_“Have you tried carnivorous plants?” Vaggie asked. “I’ve heard of those.”_

_“Mm, not quite what I’m going for with this room,” Charlie smiled. “I heard somewhere that humans need to see plants to not go completely insane. I thought maybe if I could figure out which ones grow best, I could start a little park or something. Help a little.”_

_Vaggie snorted. “They’re in Hell, Princess, I think their mental health already has something to be desired.”_

_“Well, it doesn’t have to,” Charlie insisted. “I know they probably… did bad things to be down here, but… that doesn’t mean they don’t deserve to have some green space.”_

_Vaggie shook her head. She’d been guarding the princess for almost a year now, and she could smell a Charlie scheme from a mile away at this point. “Why not just put fake ones out?”_

_“Not the same!” Charlie insisted, lifting a potted succulent. “Look, this one’s doing well. See, it is possible. I think.”_

_“There’s hardly any sun here,” Vaggie pointed out._

_“I know. But mom and dad are moving their quarters to the east side of the palace, so the crystal hallway’s up for grabs – I’m gonna turn it into a solarium,” Charlie said. “Then these little guys can try to get what little sun there is, at least.”_

_“Why do you care?” Vaggie asked. “I guarantee none of the sinners down there will notice if you successfully plant a bush.”_

_“If it helps even one sinner, even a little, it’ll be worth it,” Charlie insisted. “And… I mean, it’s helping someone already.”_

_Vaggie cocked her head at her. “It is?”_

_“Yep! You!” Charlie giggled, shoving the plant pot into Vaggie’s hands, “Because now you get to help me design the solarium!”_

_Vaggie’s eye rolled, but Charlie didn’t miss how she smiled. She was starting to really like seeing Vaggie smile._

_“Oh, alright. But I still think you should give carnivorous plants a try.”_

\--- 

Charlie paused outside the dining room, hand on the door. She knew her father might have the answers she was looking for, but she also knew the chances of him answering them willingly were zero to none. Plus she didn’t think she could face her mother’s knowing looks, her snide comments. 

Her chest ached. She’d had Vaggie by her side for years, and now….

She felt empty. 

Her hand slid off the door handle, and she moved down the hallway, down a small set of stairs that she knew led to the palace library. Compared to the library at the hotel, it was actually quite small, just a standard sized room. Lucifer and Lilith weren’t big readers, but there were a few archaic books in there that Charlie had remembered seeing, that she’d hoped would give her some kind of answer. 

She couldn’t help but roll her eyes as torches in sconces immediately lit themselves as she made her way past. Always with the flair for the dramatic, her father. 

The torches threw flickering light onto the few bookshelves, and Charlie dragged a stepstool over so she could reach the shelf she wanted – the very top one, she knew, held some ancient tomes, some almost as old as Hell itself. 

Plucking a likely looking one off the shelf, she eagerly flipped it open, only to be disappointed when she found she didn’t recognize the odd language it was written in. There were pictures, though – fading drawings of eldritch looking creatures. She turned the page, her blood turning to ice at the next picture to reveal itself. For a moment Charlie thought it was Vaggie. On closer inspection, it wasn’t Vaggie, exactly, but certainly a similar looking angel, wings spread triumphantly out as it speared through a demon, egged on by another drawing that looked suspiciously like Gabriel. 

Charlie snapped the book shut, tucking it under her arm. It was a start, and there was only one person she wanted to share that start with. 

She pulled her phone out and opened the text chain from Vaggie, scrolling past the concerned messages to type one of her own. 

_Meet me by the pier in one hour._

\---- 

Charlie didn’t have to turn to know that the approaching footsteps were Vaggie’s. She’d know the moth’s gait anywhere. Normally the approach would be completed with a kiss to the temple or a “hey, hun,” but now the footsteps faltered just behind Charlie, uncertain. 

Charlie turned, and an apology was already tumbling out of her mouth at the same time Vaggie started talking. They both paused, looking at each other uncertainly, but a smile was already playing on Charlie’s lips. She’d only been away from Vaggie for a few hours and already she missed her. 

“You go,” Vaggie said quickly, gesturing for Charlie to keep talking. 

“Vaggie, I’m so sorry,” Charlie said, “I shouldn’t have left like that without explaining or anything, I – “ tears were welling up in Charlie’s eyes, damn, couldn’t she not be emotional for one freaking second?! “It’s just – my dad, and mom, they showed me this – this footage, and I couldn’t – I should’ve told you, but –“ 

“Wait,” Vaggie said, holding up her hands in a placating gesture. “I think I know what you saw. Alastor showed me.” 

“You do? He did?” Charlie sniffed, wiping her eyes on one sleeve. “So – you know…?” 

“That it looks like I’m an angel,” Vaggie said flatly. “Yeah. I know.” 

The two women looked at each other silently for a moment, Charlie sniffling, Vaggie rubbing her arm awkwardly. Finally, Vaggie broke the silence. 

“So… are we… um, still…?” 

“Of course,” Charlie rushed forward to grip Vaggie’s hands in her own, “ _Of course_ we are. And…I don’t want to turn down your ring, Vaggie, I really don’t. But I just think maybe it’s not the right time. Maybe we should get to the bottom of this first.” 

Relief flooded Vaggie’s face as she squeezed back. “Thank you… I really didn’t want to do this without you.” 

Charlie pulled away slightly to reach into her bag, pulling out the book she’d taken from the library, holding it up to show Vaggie. “I found this. I can’t read it, but there’s some promising pictures in there. Look.” She flipped to the one of the angel that looked suspiciously like her girlfriend. “I wish I knew what it said, though. It might help.” 

Vaggie took the book, frowning as she flipped slowly through it, raising her eyes to Charlie’s. “I can’t believe I’m saying this. But…I think I know who might be able to help us out.” 

\---  
_“Ugh!” Charlie flopped onto her bed, tossing her phone onto the stand next to her as she buried her face in the pillow. Vaggie looked up from where she was cleaning her spear in the corner, raising an eyebrow._

_“What now?”_

_“I should’ve known better than try to use a dating app in Hell,” Charlie grumbled._

_“I could’ve told you that. The literal scum of the earth is on there,” Vaggie shrugged, “But what’s the problem specifically?”_

_“Well, some of the other hellborns are alright,” Charlie said, “It’s just… I don’t know, either they’re so boring or they call me a cocktease or they expect me to do all the planning for the date – just once I’d like to have someone put the effort in for an actual romantic date! I’ve never had a really romantic date, like with a fancy restaurant and flowers and everything. Sev kinda tried but it never really worked out. Once I ended up at a freaking Hell school football game instead!”_

_She rolled over, lifting her head to look at Vaggie. “Honestly, I’d rather just hang out with you at this point.”_

_“I’m not sure how I should take that,” Vaggie said, a small smile forming._

_“No, no, it’s a compliment,” Charlie waved a hand. “I wish there was a way where you could just… like… date your friend? Like… be with someone like you would in a relationship, but it’s your friend?”_

_Vaggie blinked, confused. “You can.”_

_Charlie snorted, “Noo, Vaggie, you’re my friend, but you’re a girl. It’s too bad, though. I’ve had a lot of girl friends I totally would’ve dated.”_

_Vaggie frowned as she tried to wrap her mind around what the princess was telling her. “Um… Charlie… are – are you straight?”_

_Charlie stared at her. “What’s that mean? I date guys…”_

_“Right,” Vaggie said, “But – look, some people date guys, some people date girls, and some people date both. Do you get it? Your dad is the King of Hell, for goodness’ sakes, surely he –“ Vaggie stopped herself as she tried to imagine what the sex ed and sexual orientation talk would be like with Lucifer, and guessing it was probably nonexistent, she shook her head. “Never mind. Hey, you don’t have to be dating someone to go on a fun night out. You want to go sometime when I’m off the clock?”_

_Charlie bit her lip, hesitating. “Well…”_

_“I’ll plan everything,” Vaggie smiled. “Promise. All you have to do is show up.”_

_Charlie grinned, sitting up and grabbing at her phone again. “Then it’s a date.”_

\---  
“Well, well,” Alastor said, raising his eyebrows at the women who stood in front of his office door. “To what do I owe this _unexpected_ and _inconveniently_ late visit?” 

“Oh come on,” Vaggie muttered irritably. “You don’t even sleep.” 

“Vaggie, be nice,” Charlie said, putting a calming hand on Vaggie’s shoulder. If they needed Alastor’s help, the last thing she wanted to do was piss him off. 

“I got this,” Charlie said, hefting the book up to show him, not missing how one of his ears twitched as he looked down at it. “We can’t read it. I thought with your… um… history, maybe you might know something about it?” 

“Perhaps. Come in and sit down.” Alastor turned away and strode into his office, obviously expecting the ladies to follow him. “Although I suppose I should commend you for your apparently impressive bond, I am rather disappointed that the previous events of the evening haven’t led to an entertaining well of drama. Oh well. I suppose I have other venues for that.” 

“Yeah, well, if we ever break up for good I’ll call you first,” Vaggie said, looking away so she could pretend to miss Charlie’s warning look. 

Alastor settled himself behind his desk, gesturing that Charlie should place the book upon it, which she did. 

“My, my,” he said as he flipped through it curiously, pausing here and there to look at something. “Now this is quite a rare book, my dear. Surprisingly ancient, and, it looks from these _wonderfully_ violent sketches, has more information about angels than we could ever want to know.” 

“So you can read it?” Charlie asked eagerly. 

“Ha! Of course not,” Alastor said as a laugh track surrounded them. He closed the book and slid it back over to her. “I may have made deals with devils as a living soul, but that certainly does not mean I am well versed in all supernatural languages, my dear. And, considering their yearly purge, I would prefer not to bother with the language of angels, in any case. I find no use in it.” 

Charlie sighed, pulling the book back into her lap. Back to square one, then. Vaggie seemed to be on the same train of thought, because she flopped back into her seat, folding her arms. 

“Figures he wouldn’t be able to help.” 

“Now, now, I didn’t say _that_ ,” Alastor said, “Do try to use your listening ears, darling. I may not be able to read that delightful book, but it is positively vibrating with angelic magic. With something like that, I’m sure I could dig deep into that little head of yours and pull out all the forgotten answers to what you wish to know.” 

\“You can?” Charlie clapped her hands, “That’s great! Can we start tonight? I –“ 

“Just a moment,” Alastor said, holding up a finger. “I certainly won’t do it for _free_.” 

“Oh.” Charlie sat back, frowning. “Well… what do you want?” 

“What a delightfully interesting question,” Alastor said. “And one I cannot answer for you. Come to me with your offers, and if I shall accept, we shall continue. If not… well then.” 

“But –“ Charlie tried again, but Alastor was already standing, an obvious signal that he wanted them to go. She and Vaggie were back standing outside his office door before she even knew what was happening. 

“And a good evening to you, ladies,” Alastor said. “I do look forward to hearing your offers.” With that, he shut the door in their faces. 

“He’s messing with us,” Vaggie said. “He has to be. Right?” 

“I… don’t know,” Charlie said. 

Vaggie groaned, running her hands through her hair. “Whatever, I’m exhausted and it’s late. Let’s go to bed – maybe we’ll come up with something better together tomorrow.” 

Charlie nodded, taking Vaggie’s hand and letting her girlfriend lead her. She was silent as she climbed into bed, but her mind was already going a mile a minute. She’d think of something to offer the Radio Demon. She’d get their answers. For Vaggie. 


	7. Chapter 7

Vaggie startled as Angel’s gloved fingers clicked in front of her face. She scowled at him. “What the Hell was that for?” 

Angel raised his eyebrows from where he sat across from her in Charlie’s office. “Uh, ya were sittin’ starin’ inta space like a statue an’ not fuckin’ listenin’ to me? Look, if ya not gonna bother ta humor me like Cha Cha does, can I go? I got shit ta do, y’know.” 

Vaggie leaned back into her chair, scrubbing at her face. Charlie had been following Alastor around the last few mornings like a lost puppy, desperately trying to offer him something he’d want without actually making a deal with him. All of her offers had been soundly rejected – Vaggie was sure the deer was just messing with them at this point, but Charlie was determined to keep trying. That was why she’d asked Vaggie to cover her usual morning catch up with Angel to make sure he was following their revised redemption plan so she could once again find, and probably be rejected by, the Radio Demon. 

“I’m sorry, Angel. I’m just a little distracted. Go ahead, keep talking.” 

“Nah,” Angel leaned back in his seat, reaching for a cigarette, ignoring the way Vaggie wrinkled her nose. “That shit’s borin’ anyway, ya don’t wanna hear about my nonexistent good deeds any more’n I wanna tell ya about ‘em. I do wanna hear why you two are hangin’ off Al’s dick all the time all of a sudden.” 

Vaggie groaned. “Gross. Why do you have to put it like that?” 

“’Cause I’m me, sugar,” Angel winked. “C’mon, spill, I wanna know what’s goin’ on. I hate bein’ left in the dark.” 

“Not that it’s any of your business because it doesn’t concern you,” Vaggie said, “But Alastor offered to help – kind of. For a price.” 

“Charlie’s not –“ 

“Not making a deal,” Vaggie confirmed. “At least, God, I hope she isn’t thinking that…honestly, I don’t think he really can help. I think he just likes seeing her squirm.” 

“Probably,” Angel shrugged. 

“How helpful.” 

“Hey, I didn’t say I wanted ta be helpful, I said I wanted the dirt,” Angel said. “So… an angel, huh?” 

“Looks like it,” Vaggie sighed. “I just wish I could remember more. Why I fell. What Heaven was like. I have a bad feeling about all of this.” 

Angel raised an eyebrow, “Do you ever _not_ have a bad feeling about anything? So what if ya don’t find out, what’s the big deal? Ya made it this far.” 

“It’s important to Charlie,” Vaggie insisted. “If she wants to get to the bottom of this before we can get engaged… then… I’ll do whatever it takes.” 

“You two are so sweet I think my teeth’re gonna fall out,” Angel said dryly, before groaning and scrubbing a hand through his hair, tilting his chair back. “Like I said, can I go? I got stuff ta do. Gotta get ready for a client this afternoon.” 

“Fine,” Vaggie waved a hand, checking her phone. One text from Charlie. She opened it, not bothering to look up as Angel swaggered out. 

_Couldn’t get Al to budge :( Need to stop by City Hall, would you mind dropping the book back off at the palace? Don’t think we’ll need it anymore. Guards should let you in._

Vaggie stood. That, she could do. She collected the book from their shared bedroom, taking a moment to pause and look around it. Before this whole angel thing, they’d almost never been separate from each other. Now it seemed like Vaggie only saw her girlfriend at night and in the mornings when they went to sleep and when they woke up. She knew Charlie was busy, but still.... it made Vaggie anxious. 

Shaking her head, the moth quashed that feeling. Anxiousness led to nervousness which led to carelessness which led to mistakes. Vaggie couldn’t afford to make mistakes. 

\--- 

_Vaggie looked up with a smile as the bell over the milkshake shop door jangled and Charlie stepped in. This had become a routine for them after their first outing – as soon as Vaggie officially clocked off for her guard shift, she’d come by the milkshake shop in the mall. If Charlie had time – and she usually did – she would join her._

_She was learning a lot of things about the princess. How she loved the rain but how thunder made her uncomfortable. How she preferred tea to coffee. How she had a secret fear of sock puppets._

_The main thing that Vaggie had learned, though, was how hard Charlie cared about things._

_Once the blonde got an idea into her head, she was like a pitbull with it, refusing to let it go until she had seen it through to the very end. If Charlie had shown any sign of similar temperament to her parents, her determination might’ve worried Vaggie, but the fact was, it was as if Charlie had been borne from some mysterious ray of sunshine rather than the King and Queen of Hell. None of her schemes were self serving – they were all altruistic, conscientious attempts to help her subjects. Vaggie had never met anyone else like her in this pit._

_“How was your day?” Vaggie asked as Charlie slid into the booth across from her._

_The princess gave her a bright smile, and Vaggie tried to ignore how her heart flipped a little. She loved that smile._

_“Great!” Charlie said, reaching into her bag and unrolling a large piece of paper. Vaggie leaned forward to take a look – they appeared to be some kind of building plans. “I found a great place where a park could go,” she said, “And I got some friends of dad’s to draw up some plans. The land is already cleared, and we can start planting tomorrow!”_

_“That’s great…” Vaggie said._

_Charlie’s smile dipped a little. “Don’t you think it’s a good idea?”_

_“I do,” Vaggie said. “I told you I do. But I’m just… worried. Aren’t you worried the sinners won’t just destroy it once it’s done? Even if you can get anything to grow at all.”_

_Charlie rolled up the plans again. “Why would they do that?”_

_“Because they’re sinners,” Vaggie said. “It’s not like they have anything better to do. They just wanna destroy stuff.”_

_“Hm…” Charlie leaned back, folding her arms and raising an eyebrow. “If it got built, would you want to destroy it?”_

_“Of course not,” Vaggie scoffed. “But that’s different.”_

_“How?”_

_“It just… it just is!” Vaggie said, not wanting to admit Charlie kind of had her backed into a corner. It was true she was a sinner too, but she didn’t feel any particular need to destroy Charlie’s hard work. That didn’t mean other demons wouldn’t feel differently, though._

_“I’m going to try it,” Charlie said firmly in a voice that Vaggie had learned she wasn’t going to be talked out of whatever it was she wanted to do. “Sinners or not, they deserve a green space. If it gets destroyed, we’ll build it again.”_

_Vaggie felt that warmth in her chest again. Something about Charlie when she got in moods like this was… well, it was really attractive. She cleared her throat, a little flustered. “Um, I see they got some new flavors in here.”_

_“Yep,” Charlie looked up at the menu, then glanced back at Vaggie with a knowing wink, “And don’t think distracting me with milkshakes can get you out of planting trees tomorrow.”_

_“Wouldn’t dream of it.”_

\--- 

Vaggie managed to slip into the palace relatively unnoticed, let in by former coworkers in the guard ranks. It was nice to greet them and see how they were doing, but she didn’t want to hang around too long. The last thing she wanted to do was run into someone she shouldn’t.

She found the small library easily and replaced the book, meaning to head straight back out and catch a ride back to the hotel. As she walked down the hall, though, she couldn’t help but notice a tapestry askew – reaching out to fix it, she noticed a strange crack behind it. Pulling the tapestry back further revealed a door. 

Vaggie paused, looking around. She knew she shouldn’t, but she’d spent lots of time in the palace and had never seen this door before. What if it had something to do with the answers they were looking for? She could at least poke her head in. What harm could it do? 

Stepping inside, it appeared the room wasn’t actually a room, but a hallway, leading down to some unknown place. Vaggie hesitated – peeking her head in was one thing, but going all the way down a mysterious hallway went against all her instincts. She turned to go, pausing once more. The hallway she stood in was decorated with massive paintings, taking up the entire wall space, going floor to ceiling. 

She squinted as she stepped up to one to see it closer, focusing her good eye. It appeared to be the scene of a major angels’ battle, but it wasn’t the angels she was used to. The angels Vaggie was used to seeing during the yearly purge were masked, mannequin like. The ones in the paintings were beautiful, glowing with righteous fury as they pointed their spears. In the far, far distance of the painting, dropping through the oil-painted clouds, appeared to be another angel, though this one was falling, his wings shredded.   
Something pushed at the edges of Vaggie’s memory, insistent. She closed her eyes, putting a hand to her forehead. 

_Bodies, so many bodies. Gasping as she was buried under them, white hot pain in her eye. Reaching out, desperate, desperate for… something –_

“I have never understood how humans began to think of Heaven as some place that was to be a reward,” a soft, cultured voice said from behind her. Vaggie spun to find the last person she’d wanted to run into – Lucifer stood there, his clothes slightly more disheveled than usual, his blond hair looking out of place. He seemed unperturbed at her presence, or by her seeing him in a rare state of dishevelment. He wasn’t even looking at her, instead gazing up at the giant paintings. 

Whatever vague memory that had been pushing to the forefront of Vaggie’s mind slid away, and she instead felt blank as she stood in the darkened hallway with the King of Hell.   
“Your Highness, I’m sorry, I was just –“ 

“You and my daughter have called it quits now, yes?” Lucifer glanced sidelong at her. 

Vaggie fidgeted. She could lie, but what was the point? If she and Charlie were to get engaged, Lucifer would find out anyway. “Not… exactly. Sir.” 

“Hm.” Lucifer turned his attention back to the painting. “I can’t say I’m surprised. Defiance _does_ run in the family.” 

Vaggie turned to go, but stopped just short of the door. She had to know. “Sir…” she said cautiously, pointing to the falling figure in the clouds. “Is… that you?” 

“The one and only.” Lucifer bared his teeth at her in what Vaggie assumed was supposed to be a grin. “I daresay you don’t remember, but it is rare for angels to be pushed out of the flock. Very rare indeed. They say people who worship me or damned, but people who worship my brother aren’t much better off. No independent thought, no agency. Just the angelic fold or an eternity of nothingness. Compared to that, what’s a little sin?” 

Vaggie cleared her throat. “Yes, well… sorry to disturb you, again, I’ll be on my way.” 

“Vagatha.” Slowly, Vaggie turned back around. Lucifer had his back turned to her, but he spoke all the same. “Do you know who goes to Heaven? Righteous people. And do you know what righteous people do?” He turned to raise an eyebrow at her. “They die for causes.” 

Vaggie didn’t answer, and a moment later Lucifer waved a hand at her. “You may go.” 

\--- 

Lucifer’s words were still rattling around in Vaggie’s brain when she finally staggered out from the palace walls, hugging herself for comfort and desperately punching the number into her phone for Razzle and Dazzle to come pick her up in Charlie’s limo. She felt thoroughly shaken by the short conversation she’d had with Charlie’s father, though she couldn’t quite pinpoint why. That in itself made her feel antsy. 

“Well, well, well. Look what the cat dragged out.” 

Vaggie turned her head, her eye widening when she saw Angel Dust leaning against the palace wall smoking a cigarette, his hair and clothes decidedly rumpled. 

“ _Angel_? What are you doing here?” 

“I told ya I had a client this afternoon,” Angel winked, stubbing his cigarette out and moving closer. “Ya really think Lucifer’s a one demon guy? Plus he tips real good.” 

Vaggie blinked a few times, processing that. She hadn’t had time to form words yet when Angel was talking again. 

“Can I catch a ride wit’ ya?” 

“Sure,” Vaggie said softly, “I just texted for one.” 

“Perfect timin’, then.” 

They stood in silence for a few minutes, Angel on his phone, Vaggie trying to control her breathing before she fell into a full blown panic attack. Finally, the car rolled up, and they clambered inside. 

“Alright, what’s up wit’ ya?” Angel asked after a while. 

Vaggie stared at him. “What do you mean?” 

“It’s been, like, a week an’ ya ain’t yelled at me once.” 

“Maybe you’ve been behaving.” 

“Yeah, right.” 

Vaggie bit her lip. “I’ve been… distracted. This whole angel thing has really thrown me for a loop, if I’m honest.” 

“Have ya talked ta Charlie about it?” 

Vaggie shook her head. “She’s got so much on her plate already. And she’s so determined to find out the backstory of who I am, why I fell… I sort of… sort of wish she’d just let it go. But I don’t want her to be disappointed that I’m not on the same page.” 

“Eh,” Angel shrugged, lighting up another cigarette, “I ain’t exactly the queen a’ healthy relationships here, but it kinda sounds like ya should just be honest with her. An’ fast, too, I’m gettin’ tired of being your agony aunt, y’know.” 

The moth clasped her hands. “Sorry. I do appreciate you listening, for what it’s worth.”

“Yeah? Any chance ya can show that appreciation for me on my bar tab?” 

“Don’t push it, Angel.” 

\--- 

_“I’d say that was a job well done!” Charlie beamed, coming out from the en-suite bathroom with her hair in a towel. She and Vaggie had spent the entire day laying down sod and planting trees in her planned park, and the two had returned to the palace completely covered in dirt._

_She had generously offered the shower to Vaggie, and the moth had gratefully accepted, not wanting to have to wash the grime off in the shared showers of the guard. She was pretty sure she’d get some kind of foot fungus if she continued to shower there. Now she sat on the end of the princess’ bed in a borrowed bathrobe, feeling contentedly sleepy. The entire day working in the fresh air – or at least, what passed for fresh air in Hell – had been good for them both._

_Charlie shook her blonde hair from the towel, starting to brush it out. She looked at Vaggie in the mirror as she did so, “Can you stick around for a bit?”_

_“If you want me to,” Vaggie shrugged. “I’m not on the clock right now.”_

_“Good,” Charlie said, leaning down and pulling out a game board box, shaking it so the pieces inside rattled around. “Because no one will play Scrabble with me.”_

_Vaggie groaned. “Charlie, you always beat me at that. Especially since you said Spanish words don’t count.”_

_“Pleee-aaaase,” Charlie pouted, batting her eyes, and Vaggie was backing down already. Goddamn those eyes._

_“Whatever, fine. Set it up.”_

_“It’s so quiet in here,” Charlie said as she set up the board on the floor. “Can you turn on the radio?”_

_“Sure, but if it’s that weirdo maiming people again, I’m turning it off,” Vaggie said. “Honestly, can’t you do something about him?”_

_“I don’t control the radio waves,” Charlie shrugged._

_“Too bad,” Vaggie muttered, switching the radio on. Thankfully, there weren’t any disturbing cries and wet plops of body parts hitting the ground this time. Instead there was just bouncy music, something Vaggie might describe as bubblegum pop._

_“I like this song,” Charlie said, bobbing her head. “Da da da material girl, living in a material world…”_

_“You go first,” Vaggie said, plopping down to sit cross-legged, reaching into the bag to draw out her letters._

_As Charlie concentrated to make her first word, carefully laying her letters out on the board, the song ended, switching to something slower. Charlie chuckled a little._

_“Sev liked this song. He always wanted to dance to it at parties and stuff, but his version of dancing was mostly just dragging me around the floor.”_

_Vaggie snorted, “Seriously? What do you mean?”_

_“Like this!” Charlie stood up, gesturing for Vaggie to join her. She did, and Charlie grasped her hands, putting her other hand around Vaggie’s waist. On the next beat of the song, she yanked hard, making Vaggie stumble almost into her, laughing as she caught her balance._

_“What the hell was that!?”_

_“That was how Sev danced!”_

_Vaggie snorted, but she didn’t pull away. Neither did Charlie. As the song continued, the two began a slow movement around the room, both not taking their eyes off the other.  
The song faded away. Vaggie didn’t know what compelled her to do it, but she tilted her head down, planting a soft kiss onto Charlie’s mouth. _

_Immediately she yanked herself away, embarrassed, covering her face with one hand. “I’m so sorry, Princess, that was completely inappropriate –“_

_Charlie’s hand grasped her own, and Vaggie stopped her babbling to turn and look at her. The princess’ eyes were shining with an emotion that Vaggie had never seen on her before._

_“….Could you do it again?”_

\--- 

Vaggie rose from the bed where she’d been sitting and waiting for Charlie as her girlfriend entered the room. Charlie smiled at her, but it dropped as she saw the serious look on Vaggie’s face. “What?” 

“Can we… talk, for a minute?” Vaggie asked. 

“Of course,” Charlie nodded, coming to sit on the bed, Vaggie joining her and reaching for her hand. 

“I know you want answers,” Vaggie started, taking a deep breath. “But… I’m scared, Charlie. I’m scared of what those answers are. I might’ve been an angel once, but I’m not anymore. I don’t even remember it, not really, except for nightmares, and I don’t even know how much of those are true. I think… I want to stop. I want to stop looking, and just go back to whatever we thought we were before.” 

Charlie squeezed Vaggie’s hand. “I didn’t know it made you uncomfortable, Vaggie… of course we can stop. I don’t want you to suffer, you know that, right?” 

Vaggie laughed, wiping away a tear that had formed in her nervousness, “Pretty ironic, coming from the Princess of Hell.” 

Charlie leaned forward, pressing a soft kiss to Vaggie’s temple, making the moth melt into her. She twisted so she could put her arms around Charlie, running her hands down her back. 

“You’re really okay with stopping?” 

“I love you, Vaggie, I’m not going to do anything that makes you uncomfortable,” Charlie insisted. “I promise. We’ll just go back to focusing on the hotel, that’s all.” 

Vaggie pulled back, shifting so she could kiss her girlfriend. Her fear and worry was already draining away – it was like Charlie had some kind of superpower in that regard. “I love you too.” 

Charlie’s hands gripped Vaggie’s arms, pulling them both down so Vaggie was lying on top of her. “Why don’t you show me…” 

Vaggie was more than happy to oblige.


	8. Chapter 8

Charlie woke up tangled in Vaggie’s limbs, the moth breathing gently against her face. With a small smile, Charlie untangled herself, picking up the clothes she’d tossed onto the floor in the heat of the moment. 

She loved the quiet of the hotel in the early mornings. The somewhat sharper chill of the air, the creaks of the old wood settling as the hotel residents started to slowly rise for their days. 

Pulling her blonde hair over her shoulder to secure it in its tie for the day, Charlie made her way to the kitchen. She knew Vaggie had been having a bit of a difficult time lately, and she was planning to surprise her with a nice breakfast. Strawberry crepes were one of Vaggie’s favorites, she knew, and it didn’t hurt that she was actually pretty good at making them. 

She stretched her arms over her head as she entered the kitchen, pausing when she spotted Alastor already there, sitting at the table and sipping from a teacup that didn’t match any of the hotel’s china. He must have manifested it himself. 

“Good morning, my dear,” Alastor said, not bothering to look up from the newspaper he was looking at. “Here to offer me some more trinkets and baseless promises in return for my assistance? I am so looking forward to hearing what you’ve come up with.” 

“Sorry, Alastor,” Charlie said, forcing cheerfulness as she pulled out her baking supplies. “Just here to make breakfast for Vaggie.” 

“How sweet. I take it you’ve not been outside yet today?” 

“No…” Charlie frowned, wondering what that was supposed to mean. Alastor didn’t elaborate, going back to his tea. Charlie chalked it up to the red demon just being weird as usual, and returned to her task of making crepes. 

She was just putting the last one on a plate when a terrified shriek reverberated through the bottom floor of the hotel, nearly making her drop it. 

“What in Hell –“ 

Charlie’s blood nearly turned to ice as another anguish filled scream filled the hall, followed by the clattering of something to the ground. 

She rushed to the doorway, skidding to the bottom of the stairs where Vaggie was crouched, head in her hands as if something was causing her serious pain. Her spear lay next to her on the floor – she’d clearly been coming down to join them in the kitchen before whatever was afflicting her started. 

“Vaggie?” Charlie said, holding trembling hands just above her lover, almost afraid to touch her. Vaggie was always so stoic, she’d never seen her like this before. “Vaggie, are you okay? What’s the matter?” 

“Hurts…” Vaggie whispered, her fingers clutching at her head. 

“Oh, my.” Alastor stood in the doorway, an eyebrow raised as he stared down at them. “Is Miss Vagatha quite alright?” 

“You!” Charlie spun and pointed at him, “What did you do?!” 

“Me?” Alastor said, “My dear, I hardly have anything to do with this. Not my style in the slightest. If you must continue your slanderous accusations, though, may I suggest you look outside?” 

Charlie hesitated, her arms around Vaggie. She didn’t want to leave her. Alastor seemed to sense this and huffed with a roll of his eyes, striding to the door and pulling it open. “If you would direct your attention to the sky.” 

The princess could hardly see any of the sky through the small opening of the door, but even within the small patch she could see, it was immediately obvious what Alastor was talking about. What could only be described as a crack wound its way through the red sky, deepening into inky blankness. Even as Charlie stared, she swore she could feel a slight rumble under her feet. “What…” 

Vaggie let out another small moan, and Charlie’s attention snapped back to her, carefully guiding the moth to her feet. “Let’s get you back upstairs…. then I’ll deal with… whatever that is.” She turned to point at Alastor as she guided her girlfriend to the stairs. “Don’t do anything weird while I’m gone.” 

\--- 

“Can you talk to me?” Charlie asked Vaggie anxiously as she helped the moth back into bed, pulling the covers over her. “What hurts?” 

Vaggie opened her eye blearily, her hands still reaching for her head. “Everything… I feel like… I’m on fire.” 

Charlie reached to grip her hand. “When did it start?” 

“This morning… it came on so suddenly…” Vaggie gasped, grabbing at her chest, tears forming. “Charlie!” 

“I’m here,” Charlie said, “I’m here, I promise. We’ll figure it out, okay? Hey,” she gave her a small smile, pushing back her own fear. “At least you can’t die again!” 

Vaggie whined, pushing her head back into the pillow and squeezing her eye shut as she clutched at the covers. Charlie reached for her phone, pushing the speed dial for her father, frowning when it went straight to voicemail. She did the same for Lilith’s number, getting the same result. Fucking typical for the rulers to disappear when their subjects actually needed them. 

She gave Vaggie’s hand one more squeeze before hurrying out and down the hall, banging on Angel’s door as hard as she could. The door cracked open, Angel glaring at her from underneath an eye mask he’d pushed up. 

“Princess, it’s way too fuckin’ early for –“ 

“It’s an emergency, Angel,” Charlie said breathlessly. Desperately. “Vaggie’s… sick, I – can you stay with her for a few minutes? I need to deal with something.” 

Angel raised an eyebrow. “It’s that serious ya needed ta wake me up before ten a.m.?” 

Charlie tugged at her hair in frustration, “Angel! Look behind you!” 

Angel turned to look out his window, startling as he saw the crack formed in the sky. “Ay! _Che cazzo_ , what the fuck is that?!” 

“Something bad,” Charlie said. “And I need help. Please, please stay with her?” 

Angel hesitated, then nodded, stepping out into the hallway and closing his door behind him. “Yeah, fine.” 

“Good,” Charlie was already running for the stairs, yelling over her shoulder, “Text me if she gets worse!” 

She ran back down to the lower level and out the door, just outside the hotel. Clicking her fingers together until sparks flew from them, she launched a warning signal into the sky, where it exploded and hung there, visible to all the sinners in the city. She didn’t know what was going on yet, but cracks in the sky couldn’t mean anything good. She wanted them to have a chance to get under cover before any shit hit the fan. 

A shiver went up her back – as part of the royal family, she was more attuned to Hell than most, and she was getting a very, very bad feeling. Fucked up things in the sky usually meant something to do with Heaven, and despite her current goals of getting sinners to redemption, she did have to admit Heaven coming to Hell was usually a bad thing.   
Especially when they still had six months left until the next purge. 

Going back inside, she nearly ran straight into Alastor, who backed up to look down at her. “Is everything in hand?” 

“In hand?!” Charlie felt like she was going nuts. “I –“ she paused as a buzzing noise started up from outside. A very familiar buzzing noise. “It can’t be…” 

Pressing herself up against the window confirmed her fears. The crack was getting larger, angels starting to drop through it, their spears clutched tightly as they spread out.   
“No,” Charlie said, “It – it isn’t time! The next Extermination isn’t for six months! They can’t do this, there’s a deal – “ 

“Perhaps the deal was broken somehow,” Alastor suggested. 

“Dad isn’t answering his phone, I don’t –“ Charlie stopped herself, her eyes widening. “Vaggie. I think – I think this might have something to do with Vaggie.” She spun to stare at Alastor. “Alright, enough games. I know you can help Vaggie find her memory. I _order_ you to help us!” 

“And why should I?” Alastor leaned back, looking at her through lidded eyes. 

Charlie closed her eyes, feeling the heat in her stomach that meant her demonic side was about to win out – it didn’t come out often, but Charlie knew she could hold her own just as well when it did. A soft growl started in her throat, and when her eyes opened again, they were red – she could feel the horns starting to grow out of her hair. 

“Because the King of Hell is my fucking father, and I swear on his name if you don’t help me right now, I’ll make sure he finds Overlord Vox and sews you to him for the rest of your miserable afterlife, now can you help us or not?!” 

“My,” Alastor said, raising an eyebrow, apparently completely unperturbed by the threat. “So you do have a bit of demon in you after all. How interesting. Well, I suppose, in the name of self-preservation…” He gave a little bow, gesturing to her. “After you.” 

\--- 

“She passed out,” Angel said helpfully when Charlie came through the door with Alastor on her heels. Charlie groaned, “Angel! You were supposed to text me if she got worse!” 

“Hey, I thought passin’ out was a good thing! She looks like ain’t in pain anymore!” 

Charlie groaned, massaging her temples, trying to ignore the horns grown there for now. “Okay, Alastor. Do… whatever it is you can do.” 

“Hey wait,” Angel said, “I thought Vags said she didn’t wanna find out no more? What’s she gonna do when she finds out ya did this without her permission?” 

“We don’t have a choice, Angel,” Charlie said grimly. “If it has something to do with the angels that are currently dropping through a hole in the sky… especially if they’re after her for some reason…we have to know.” 

Angel’s eyes widened, and he ran to the window to look out. “Oh, fuck.” 

Charlie looked back at Alastor. “Well?” 

“Patience, my dear,” Alastor said, swiping his hand through the air and pulling out a few white and red candles. “The arcane arts cannot be rushed.” 

Charlie crossed around to the other side of the bed and knelt next to it, taking Vaggie’s hand, rubbing her thumb across it in small circles. 

Alastor carefully set his candles around the room, snapping his fingers to light them. He used his microphone to swirl the smoke from them into a single coil, sending it over Vaggie’s head. With another motion, he flung his hand out, the smoke dissipating around their ankles on the floor before rising up into shadowy figures. 

Despite the fact that they were simple shadows, Charlie could make out which one was Vaggie against the other shadowy angels. At first it was just as they’d all seen in the video stolen from Vox – the usual slashing and stabbing and carnage. Soon enough though, the Vaggie shadow hesitated, slowing down in its attack. 

A demon clawed at its eye – the shadow fell to its knees, clutching at it. Bodies rained from above as its brethren continued their purge, burying the Vaggie shadow. Something invisible and unheard caught the shadow angels’ attention, and they began to retreat. A moment later, the Vaggie shadow climbed out of the body pile. It paused before running the other way. 

“She didn’t fall,” Charlie breathed, staring down at the scene the shadows were playing out for her. “She _ran_.” She put a hand to her mouth as she looked to the window. “When Gabriel came to visit… he must’ve realized she was a deserter and thought she was hiding out here!"

“So ya think all those fuckers are comin’ down for her?!” Angel asked, waving his hand to the window, “So whaddya we do? What’d Lucifer say?” 

“I don’t know,” Charlie said desperately. “They’re not answering their phones.” She closed her eyes, steeling herself. “So I’m the next best thing. This is our turf, and they’re coming uninvited. We’ll do anything we can to keep this hotel and the demons inside it safe. Understand?” 

“So what I’m hearin’ ya say is…” Angel grinned, manifesting his guns, “We fight.” 

Charlie turned back to Vaggie, going back to clutching her hands, wishing her girlfriend would wake up. Her demonic horns were already starting to shrink back into her hair, her eyes going back to normal. “If that’s what it takes.”


	9. Chapter 9

_Vagatha stood at attention in the center of a tidy line of other heavenly souls. Her chest couldn’t help but swell with pride as Puriel made her way up and down the line, giving them a briefing for what was to happen that evening. Vagatha had been honored, so honored, when the examiner of souls had come to her and deemed her worthy of joining one of the most coveted positions in Heaven._

_Exterminator._

_At first, the word had sounded harsh, at odds with the supposed pleasure and constant peace Heaven was supposed to provide. As Vagatha learned more and more about the threats constantly at Heaven’s gates, though, the word seemed necessary, a necessary move to protect a status quo._

_The angels weren’t entirely forthcoming with her when she’d first arrived, but she was smart, she listened. Her ears caught whispered conversations from behind pillars or walking in Michael’s garden, and she began to put together a picture._

_Heaven was under attack._

_The denizens of Hell, unhappy with their deserved lot in the afterlife, were jealous and constantly planning attacks under the fallen Archangel Lucifer. If their ranks were not thinned out with some regularity, If Heaven did not send the message of who deserved eternal peace and who did not and make it stick, Heaven would be overrun in no time.  
Not just any heavenly soul could be an Exterminator. They had to be hand-picked, awarded the title by Puriel herself. Only the most loyal were chosen. Only those most connected to Him. To become an Exterminator was practically to ascend. _

_So Vagatha was flattered when she was chosen with a hand on her shoulder, when she fell in line with the other lucky souls and a spear pressed into her hand. She didn’t falter when masks were drawn over their faces – after all, residents of Hell didn’t deserve to see their heavenly features. The only time she hesitated a bit was when Puriel informed them that all memories of their previous lives were to be wiped, and they would know only Heaven and their angelic brethren after that._

_Vagatha had faltered. Forget her sisters, her mother, her family? Her home? Apprehension and loyalty battled within her, but eventually loyalty to Heaven and to Him won out. After all, as Puriel put it, it wouldn’t do for an Exterminator to remember. They might come across someone they knew in Hell, and it could be used against them, cause them to hesitate where only true righteousness was needed. So she had submitted._

_Now all she knew were her sisters and brothers of the Exterminators, led by Puriel, excitement thrumming through the ranks as they descended between worlds to start their Heavenly purge, unsure what to expect but knowing what the outcome must be._

_Vagatha had expected demons to be lowly worms, crawling on their bellies and begging to be saved from the onslaught. She hadn’t expected them to fight back.  
The Extermination angels, loyalty supposedly drilled into their brains, immediately spread out in search of prey, leaving Vagatha alone. A pair of weasel demons saw their chance and set after her, dragging her down. _

_Something twigged in her memories as her head hit asphalt. Picking fruit from a tree with her sister. Being shown a pretty bird by her grandmother. Her life. This wasn’t her, she knew it wasn’t her. Something was wrong, wrong, wrong. She tried to get up, only to come crashing back to the ground as more enthusiastic angels dropped bodies on top of her, unknowing or uncaring that she was there._

_One of the weasels clawed at her eye, and she let out a scream, startling them enough to make them back off. She was quickly becoming buried in bodies and blood – she reached for her mask, tearing it off, trying to breathe, holding a hand to her bloodied eye._

_She was scared. Exterminators weren’t supposed to get scared, but she was terrified. Nobody was coming for her. Nobody was helping her._

_With blood-covered angels ripping into demons and scattering the carnage everywhere, it was hard to focus, hard to see where the real monsters, the real enemies were.  
A sense of self-preservation started to burn within her chest, and she began to fight her way out of the pile of bodies. A sharp whistle, and a sudden silence. Finally, finally, the signal from Puriel that the purge was over. That it was time to go home. Vagatha finally staggered to freedom, breathing in the rank air. She hesitated as her angelic brothers and sisters flocked back to their leader. Her wings spread, but she couldn’t do it. _

_Puriel hovered above her. They locked eyes for one, searing moment – then in a flash, everything was gone._

\---- 

“—Just wish I knew what was making her hurt –“ 

Vaggie sat straight up in bed, gulping air like she’d been drowning, and startling Charlie who was sitting on the edge of the bed next to her. 

“I remember,” Vaggie gasped out. 

“What?” Charlie looked concerned, and Vaggie suddenly noticed Alastor standing nearby, watching them as if they were some interesting beetle he’d found. She bristled. 

“What’s _he_ doing in here?” 

“He was – it’s a long story, but – um, Alastor, would you mind giving us some privacy?” Charlie asked. 

“Of course, my dear,” Alastor said. “Perhaps I’ll see what is going on outside.” As soon as he disappeared, Charlie turned back to Vaggie, concern written all over her features.   
“You said you remember? You… do you… remember running away from the angels?” 

“Yes,” Vaggie said, “I was buried, and Puriel saw, and – “ she frowned, her brow furrowing. “How did you know?” 

“Um, well,” Charlie twisted her hands, “It’s just – you were hurting, Vaggie! I needed to know what was going on, and so I kind of… asked Alastor for help…” 

“What?!” Vaggie’s heart sank as she realized what must have happened. “But… I told you I didn’t want… you let him into my head?” 

Charlie took Vaggie’s hand in her own, her face falling more when Vaggie pulled it away. “Vaggie, I’m sorry, it was an emergency! And I think they might be looking for –“ The sound of gunfire outside interrupted her, followed by a shriek of glee that could only have belonged to Angel. 

Vaggie’s eye narrowed at her girlfriend. “What’s going on?” 

“You’ve been passed out for a couple of hours,” Charlie said. “You started… I don’t know… really hurting? And angels have been coming down pretty steadily since then, I think they might be looking for you! Gabriel must’ve… must’ve reported back about a deserter or something, that’s all I can think of!” 

Vaggie put a hand to her head. It still throbbed, but it was a little better than this morning. She stumbled out of bed, ignoring Charlie’s protests. Someone had leant her spear up against their nightstand and she snatched it up. 

“Then I guess I’d better give them what they want.” 

“What?!” Charlie screeched, “No, no way! They’ll destroy you!” 

“Why?” Vaggie demanded. “They obviously want me for some reason – “ 

“Yeah, to kill you for deserting!” 

“You don’t know that,” Vaggie said, cringing at the sound of more gunfire, and the sound of something crackling outside. 

“I do, Vaggie, please!” 

Vaggie stared at her girlfriend. They usually did everything together, but for the first time in a long, long while, she felt like she might need to do this alone.

“I’m sure you have some princess things you need to do if your parents are MIA,” Vaggie said, falling back into her old guard training. “I’ll cover your back when we get out there, and you if see if you can get their attention to talk. But then you let me do the talking, got it?” 

Charlie hesitated, picking at her hands. 

“Charlie!” Vaggie said, sharper than she intended. Charlie jumped before biting her lip and nodding. “Good. Lead the way.” 

\--- 

Outside was chaos. The hotel residents had formed a tight little knot in front of the hotel, Angel blasting at angels when they came too close, though it didn’t hold them off for long, as they seemed to heal almost immediately. Husk stood nearby, armed with a gun himself, using the same tactic as Angel. Alastor stood in the back, apparently just watching for now. 

Vaggie took stock as she stepped outside, spear gripped in her hand, Charlie at her shoulder. Despite their efforts, she could see the hotel was entirely encircled by angels.   
As soon as Vaggie and Charlie left the safety of the hotel, a strange shrieking noise echoed throughout the circle of angels before a heavy silence fell over them all. It was creepy, masked figures surrounding them, staring, not moving. 

The silence lasted only a moment before a flash of light burst to the ground like a lightning bolt, making everybody turn and shield their eyes. When the light faded, Gabriel stood before them, wings fluttering as if he were a bit annoyed, rather than standing in the middle of a potential bloodbath. 

The pain was starting in Vaggie’s head again. Gabriel gestured to another masked angel, who stepped forward. As soon as it did, the pain intensified, like a knife in Vaggie’s bad eye. She gasped, but stayed standing – she needed answers, and she was going get them, even if she had to disembowel every angel here to get there. 

“Uncle Gabriel,” Charlie said, stepping around Vaggie, “What’s going on?! It’s not nearly time for your – ah, your friends to, um, visit.” 

“We have discovered a wrong that needs to be righted,” Gabriel said, barely lowering his glance to even look at Charlie. “The answer to a constant rift between worlds that has plagued us for years. You,” he pointed at Vaggie, “Broke your chain of loyalty. Unless every angel returns from the purge willingly each year, if they are not killed during their duty, the barrier which allows us to cross remains… weak. Open to attack and plagued by demons. For years we’ve searched for the cause, but I finally discovered when I visited last.”   
He gestured to her bad eye, “You wear the mark of a betrayer. Puriel here,” another gesture to the angel next to him, “Confirmed my suspicions. We’ve come to get rid of the weakness.” 

“That’s bullshit!” Vaggie protested, angling her spear, even though she knew how absolutely ridiculous it was to even bother pointing a weapon at an archangel. Still, she had a feeling he meant the weakness was her, and she didn’t like that, not one bit. “Don’t try that with me! I finally remember everything. Puriel knew it was me the whole time – she’s responsible for me losing my memory!” 

“She’s telling the truth!” Charlie backed her up. “We saw it from her own memories!”

“You would believe a deserter and the bastard filth of Lucifer and his slut?” Puriel hissed up at Gabriel, “What reason would I have to lie?” 

“Uncle Gabriel, please!” Charlie begged, “Vaggie would never lie about anything!” 

“Hmm…” Gabriel looked between Vaggie, Charlie, and Puriel with a level of slightly more interest than he’d had before. “Interesting. What reason indeed would Puriel have to lie? She is a highly regarded angel in her ranks. You are nothing but a deserting, fallen angel, no better than a demon. Still…” his eyes flicked to Charlie, “I have no reason not to trust you, niece, especially considering you and your father seem to constantly be at odds. So how to resolve this?” 

“Oh!” Charlie’s shoulders relaxed a little, “Well, I’ve actually been doing a lot of learning about conflict resolution recently, and maybe we could try some of it! Maybe if you and Puriel want to step into the drawing room, I could make some tea and –“ 

“No,” Gabriel said, glaring down at her. “We will need a neutral place for the trial.” 

“Wait, trial?” Vaggie and Charlie said in unison. 

There was barely time to react before Gabriel snapped his fingers and a torrent of golden air and light surrounded the hotel and all its residents. Vaggie felt like she was being whipped about in a tornado – she reached out to try and grab Charlie, Angel, Husk, even _Alastor_ – but she couldn’t feel anyone – her spear was ripped from her hands, and for a moment she thought all her breath might be yanked from her lungs – 

Just when she couldn’t take it anymore, Vaggie found herself dumped in a heap on a marble floor. She staggered to her feet, a glance around telling her Charlie and the others were doing the same, Alastor shoving a shrieking Angel off of him with a bit more force than necessary. 

“Where the fuck are we now?” Husk asked with the air of someone used to being dragged through dimensions and was now completely over it. 

They were in a bright, white room. Not just the floor was made of shiny, cold, marble – everything was. The walls, the ceiling, the pillars. Despite there being some kind of unseen light source, Vaggie realized with a quiet dread that wherever they were, there were no doors or windows to speak of. 

“Umm…” Charlie sidled over to Vaggie, gripping her arm with a vice like grip so tight that it actually made Vaggie wince. “I think… we might be in Heaven.”

**Author's Note:**

> As always thanks for reading, kudos and comments are appreciated if you wish to!


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